North Carolina
Notre Dame
North Carolina Shuts Out #9 Notre Dame
February 17, 2008 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 17, 2008
Seattle, WA - The nationally 13th-ranked and 12th-seeded UNC Tar Heels capped off an impressive showing at the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships on Sunday with a big win against the nation's 9th ranked team, Notre Dame. The shutout victory in the match, which was held at the Seattle Tennis Club, marks the second win in a row for the Tar Heels over a Top 10-ranked opponent, and gave UNC a 2-1 mark for the tournament against some of the best teams in the nation.
"This is obviously a good win," UNC Head Coach Sam Paul commented about his team's performance after Sunday's match. "Things are getting better, and we're really turning the corner. I'm very pleased with our effort the last two days."
Sunday's match resembled a streamlined version of yesterday's win against Baylor, as the bulk of the workload was again placed on the shoulders of junior Taylor Fogleman and sophomores Stefan Hardy, Clay Donato, and Chris Kearney. Doubles began with an 8-4 victory by Donato and Kearney, and ended when Fogleman and Hardy came back from an early break down to clinch the team point with an 8-5 win.
The early momentum for the Tar Heels led right into a brilliant singles performance, as the dynamic foursome led the way again, with straight-sets wins by Fogleman, Kearney, Donato, and Hardy closing the match out for the Heels at the blowout score of 5-0. While Hardy finished his singles match with the team match already decided by Donato's win, Benjamin Carlotti and Will Plyler's matches were halted as they trailed their opponents in close matches by the scores of 6-7 and 5-7, 3-0, respectively.
North Carolina, which began the season ranked 10th in the nation, fell as far as number 15 after tough losses to Rice and Ohio State before returning to number 13 prior to the Team Indoors. However, UNC's showing this week in a huge wins against Baylor and Notre Dame and a competitive loss to Mississippi suggests that the Tar Heels are back on a hot streak and better than ever. The improvement in play can be attributed to many things, but a rise to the occasion by some of the younger players, combined with veteran leadership, has seemed to be the perfect formula for red-hot North Carolina.
"It's a total team effort," Coach Paul offered as to the source of his team's recent success. "I think its good that [Fogleman, Hardy, Donato, and Kearney] have been playing well, but we've got great leadership in guys like Ben Carlotti at number one, and in guys like Will Plyler who played a tough match at number six today. We're just getting better and working harder."
One source of success that can't be overlooked has been the recent exceptional play of Taylor Fogleman. In yesterday's match against Baylor, Fogleman came back from a 6-4, 2-0 deficit in singles to clinch the match for the Tar Heels after winning his doubles match with Stefan Hardy, and today led the way with a 6-1, 6-2 victory in singles after another doubles win with Hardy. As the eldest member of the four-man group that has carried UNC to victory the last two days, Fogleman heading another big victory seems quite fitting.
After their performance at the Team Indoors, North Carolina seems primed to take on a schedule heavy with Top 50 teams. The next test for the Tar Heels will come a week from now at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center against the nation's 20th-ranked team, VCU. The match will be played at 4 PM.
"We just need to keep getting better and staying healthy," Coach Paul said of his team in preparation for the coming schedule. "We've seen the best, and now we know we can beat them."
#12 North Carolina 5, #9 Notre Dame 0
Records: UNC 6-3, Notre Dame 7-3
Doubles
#1 Parbhu/Helgeson (ND) d. David Stone/Lenny Gullan (UNC) 8-5
#2 Fogleman/Hardy (UNC) d. Havens/Roth (ND) 8-5
#3 Donato/Kearney (UNC) d. Davis/Montoya (ND) 8-4
Singles
#1 Brett Helgeson [#11] (ND) led Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) 7-6
#2 Stefan Hardy (UNC) d. Sheeva Parbhu (ND) 7-5, 6-2
#3 Clay Donato (UNC) d. Andrew Roth (ND) 7-5, 6-3
#4 Chris Kearney (UNC) d. Stephen Havens (ND) 6-1, 6-4
#5 Taylor Fogleman (UNC) d. David Anderson (ND) 6-1, 6-2
#6 Dan Stahl (ND) led Will Plyler (UNC) 7-5, 0-3
Order of finish: 5, 4, 3*, 2
Players Mentioned
