North Carolina
North Carolina State
UNC Whips State For Eleventh Straight Victory
April 2, 2008 | Men's Tennis
April 2, 2008
Chapel Hill, NC - The tenth-ranked UNC Tar Heels made an emphatic statement Wednesday afternoon, defeating the 44th-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack 5-2 to improve their win streak to 11 and their overall record to 15-3. The win ensures that Friday's match versus top-ranked Virginia will be a match of ACC unbeatens, as UNC is 5-0 and UVA is 7-0.
UNC clinched Wednesday's match by winning the first four team points, powered by a doubles sweep that got the Tar Heels going. The match opened with an upset at number one doubles, as the nation's tenth-ranked duo of Taylor Fogleman and Chris Kearney cruised to an 8-2 win over ninth-ranked Nick Cavady and Jay Weinacker. 42nd-ranked Stefan Hardy and Clay Donato followed up that win by clinching the team doubles point with a 9-7 victory at the second spot. Seniors David Stone and Tristan Heinrich finished up the perfect doubles effort with an 8-6 win that left the Wolfpack without a single set win going into singles.
Singles play was another ranked players romp for the Tar Heels, as 83rd-ranked Chris Kearney increased UNC's team lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 win before passing the torch to 73rd-ranked Stefan Hardy, who upped the lead to 3-0 after defeating Nick Cavady 6-1, 6-4. After Hardy's win, the Tar Heels looked for a closer and found one in senior Will Plyler, who battled through a close second set against fellow Raleigh native David Chermak to pull out a 6-3, 6-4 victory that delivered the win to North Carolina. While the match was decided, senior Benjamin Carlotti pulled out a huge upset at number one singles, fighting back from a first-set loss to win a marathon third set tiebreaker over 64th-ranked James McGee.
UNC will now face their biggest challenge of the season in Friday's home match versus Virginia. The top-ranked Cavaliers, who have the nation's first-ranked singles player and first-ranked doubles team, are undefeated in both ACC play and overall play this year. However, the Tar Heels red-hot streak of late seems to have them primed for a chance at an upset, which would give them sole ownership of first place in the ACC. The match will be held at 4 PM ET in the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, and fans that attend the match will receive Bojangles biscuits, sweet tea, and the chance to win prizes as part of UNC's "Wimbledon Southern Style" promotion.
#10 North Carolina 5, #44 NC State 2
Records: UNC 15-3 (5-0 ACC), NC State 11-9 (4-3 ACC)
Doubles
#1 Fogleman/Kearney [#10] (UNC) d. Cavady/Weinacker (NCSU) [#9] 8-2
#2 Hardy/Donato [#42] (UNC) d. McGee/Welte (NCSU) 9-7
#3 David Stone/Tristan Heinrich (UNC) d. Chermak/Stephens (NCSU) 8-6
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
#1 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) d. James McGee [#64] (NCSU) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (15-13)
#2 Stefan Hardy [#73] (UNC) d. Nick Cavady (NCSU) 6-1, 6-4
#3 Jay Weinacker (NCSU) d. Clay Donato (UNC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
#4 Chris Kearney [#83] (UNC) d. Chris Welte (NCSU) 6-2, 6-3
#5 Derek Stephens (NCSU) d. Taylor Fogleman (UNC) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (16-14)
#6 Will Plyler (UNC) d. David Chermak (NCSU) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 2, 6, 3, 5, 1
Players Mentioned
