North Carolina
North Carolina State
Wolfpack Upsets Tar Heels To Advance To NCAA Round Of 16
May 12, 2007 | Men's Tennis
May 12, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - NC State upset sixth-seeded North Carolina Saturday evening to advance to the NCAA Men's Division I Tennis Championship Round of 16 which begins next Thursday at Athens, Ga. The Wolfpack defeated the Tar Heels 4-0 in an indoor match at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The match started two hours late because of inclement weather.
NC State claimed the doubles point to go ahead 1-0 in the match, marking only the fourth time this season that the Tar Heels had lost the doubles point. Carolina grabbed the No. 3 doubles match by an 8-3 count but NC State game right back to win at No. 2 as UNC's Sebastian Guejman and Stefan Hardy were broken at 3-3 and then lost five straight games to James McGee and Jay Weinacker.
The decision in the doubles point came down to No. 1 doubles where Lenny Gullan and David Stone of UNC led 6-4 in the match but lost their serve in the 11th game. NC State's nationally-ranked duo of William Noblitt and Nick Cavaday then rallied and won five of the last six games of the match to win 9-7. The match was tied at 7-7 on serve but the State tandem broke Gullan's serve and then Cavaday held serve to decide the doubles point.
NC State went up 2-0 after a win at No. 2 singles by William Noblitt, who defeated Carolina's Chris Kearney in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. State then wrapped up the victory with wins at No. 3 and No. 2 singles. Jay Weinacker defeated UNC's Stefan Hardy 7-6 (5), 6-3 at No. 3 singles and Nick Cavaday clinched the match for the Wolfpack at No. 1 singles with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Benjamin Carlotti.
State advances to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in history. It was also NC State's first win over Carolina since a 1988 regular-season match.
Match Notes
# UNC and NC St. meeet for the first time in NCAA play.
# A record 10 ACC schools advanced to the NCAA Tournament this year (SEC had the second most with 7 teams).
Final Score: NC State 4, North Carolina 0
Doubles (Team winning majority of 3 matches earns one team point; pro set format)
1. No. 13 William Noblitt/Nick Cavaday (NCSU) d. No. 40 Lenny Gullan/David Stone (UNC), 9-7*
2. James McGee/Jay Weinacker (NCSU) d. Sebastian Guejman/Stefan Hardy (UNC), 8-3
3. Chris Kearney/Taylor Fogleman (UNC) d. Chris Welte/David Rozek (NCSU), 8-3
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Clinched the doubles point
Singles (Best 2 of 3 sets)
1. Nick Cavaday (NCSU) vs. Benjamin Carlotti (UNC), 6-3, 6-1*
2. William Noblitt (NCSU) def. Chris Kearney (UNC), 6-3, 6-2
3. Jay Weinacker (NCSU) vs. Stefan Hardy (UNC), 7-6 (5), 6-3
4. James McGee (NCSU) vs. Taylor Fogleman (UNC), DNF
5. Chris Welte (NCSU) vs. Sebastian Guejman (UNC), DNF
6. Andre Iriarte (NCSU) vs. Will Plyler (UNC), DNF
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
*Clinched the match
Records: North Carolina 24-4, NC State 22-9
Players Mentioned
