North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Tar Heels Finish Regular Season With Win Over Hokies
April 16, 2006 | Men's Tennis
April 16, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Victories by three Tar Heel seniors in singles play keyed the No. 12 North Carolina men's tennis team to a 4-3 victory over No. 57 Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The match was the regular-season finale for both teams and it marked Senior Day for four Tar Heel seniors -- Rain Luchici, Aly Mandour, Brad Pomeroy and Derek Porter.
The Tar Heels finished the regular season 23-3 overall and 8-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels tied for fourth place in the ACC standings with Florida State. Duke, Miami and Virginia all tied for first place at 9-2 in the league.
The eight wins in the ACC are the most by Carolina in a single season since the Tar Heels went 8-0 in the ACC in 1996.
UNC won the doubles point as Raian Luchici and Brad Pomeroy claimed the No. 1 spot with a decisive 8-1 win over Christian Guevara and Brent Wilkins. An 8-5 victory at No. 3 doubles by Sebastian Guejman and Derek Porter over Nicolas Delgado and Albert Larregola of the Hokies decided the point in favor of North Carolina.
The two teams split the singles matches with only one of the matches going to three sets. North Carolina seniors Brad Pomeroy and Raian Luchici won in straight sets to put the Tar Heels up 3-0 before David Rosenfeld won at No. 4 for Virginia Tech.
The match was clinched at the No. 6 singles spot when Aly Mandour defeated Brandon Corace 6-4, 6-4. Mandour trailed in the first set 4-1 before she won eight games in a row to go up 6-4, 3-0. After Corace won three straight games, Mandour won three of the last four games to win 6-4 in the second set. Mandour has gone 4-0 in ACC matches since stepping into the starting lineup.
Shortly thereafter Nicolas Delgado finished off a straight set win over UNC's Benjamin Carlotti before the No. 3 match went to a three-set tiebreaker before Albert Larregola defeated Derek Porter.
Luchici finished off a week in which he beat the No. 4, No. 9 and No. 52 ranked singles players in the nation, all in straight sets.
The Cary Tennis Center will be the site of the 2006 ACC Tournament. UNC has tied for fourth place and will play in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Friday against the No. 5 versus No. 12 winner from Thursday's first-round matches.
No. 12 North Carolina 4, No. 57 Virginia Tech 3
Doubles (pro sets, team winning at least two of three matches earns one team point)
No. 1 #6 Raian Luchici / Brad Pomeroy (NC) d. Christian Guevara / Brent Wilkins (VT), 8-1
No. 2 Arvid Puranen / Alexei Sergeev (VT) d. Lenny Gullan / David Stone (NC), 9-8 (7-3)
No. 3 Sebasian Guejman / Derek Porter (NC) d. Nicolas Delgado / Albert Larregola (VT), 8-5
(North Carolina claims doubles point to lead match 1-0)
Singles (best of three sets)
No. 1 #18 Raian Luchici (NC) d. #56 Arvid Puranen (VT), 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 Brad Pomeroy (NC) d. Alexei Sergeev (VT), 6-0, 6-4
No. 3 #125 Albert Larregola (VT) d. Derek Porter (NC), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-0)
No. 4 David Rosenfeld (VT) d. Sebastian Guejman (NC), 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
No. 5 Nicolas Delgado (VT) d. Benjamin Carlotti (NC), 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 Aly Mandour (NC) d. Brandon Corace (VT), 6-4, 6-4
Records: Virginia Tech 12-14, ACC; North Carolina 23-3, ACC 8-3
Players Mentioned
