North Carolina
Duke
UNC Edges Duke In ACC Statement Match
April 9, 2008 | Men's Tennis
April 9, 2008
Chapel Hill, NC - On an afternoon where much more was at stake than a simple win or loss, the 11th-ranked UNC Tar Heels overcame the 42nd-ranked Duke Blue Devils 4-3 in what could be considered a "statement match" for many reasons. While the outcome affected the ACC standings in a conference with many highly-ranked teams, the win also broke a regular season losing streak to Duke that dated all the way back to April 11, 1996. The Tar Heels had also lost to Duke twice in the ACC tournament and won once in that time period, making UNC 1-13 since the loss in 1996. In addition, the win upped North Carolina's lead in the Carlyle Cup to 11, with the standings currently 16-5 in UNC's favor.
"I'm very proud of the guys on our team," remarked UNC Head Coach Sam Paul after the match. "It was a total team effort today."
The success for the Tar Heels began in a familiar place on Wednesday, the doubles matches. With a 1-2 combination of two top-50 doubles pairs, North Carolina has been exceptionally difficult to beat this season in non-conference and ACC play. Wednesday's match began with an 8-3 win by tenth-ranked Taylor Fogleman and Chris Kearney, as Fogleman served out the match to defeat the 50th-ranked team of David Goulet and Christopher Price. Following the win at number one doubles, the 42nd-ranked duo of Stefan Hardy and Clay Donato broke Reid Carleton, who served in the final game, to secure an 8-6 victory. The third doubles match was halted with David Stone and Tristan Heinrich trailing by the close score of 6-5 and the team point decided in UNC's favor.
"[The win] started with the doubles where Stefan Hardy, Clay Donato, Taylor Fogleman, and Chris Kearney gave us a big boost to get off to a 1-0 lead," said Coach Paul of the Tar Heels' doubles play.
With the 1-0 lead, North Carolina held the upper ground and never looked back. Right out of the gates, Donato wasted no time in scoring a straight-sets, 6-2, 6-2 win at the fourth singles spot to put UNC up 2-0. Not to be outdone, Fogleman scored a straight-sets victory of his own, conceding only three total games to Alex Stone in a 6-2, 6-1 win. Finally, Kearney recorded the third straight-sets win in a row to clinch the match for the Tar Heels with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at the third singles slot.
"Going into singles, it was good to get some early wins. Taylor Fogleman played very well at number five with a 2 and 1 win there. But give Duke credit. They came back," said Coach Paul of both his team's performance and Duke's three-point comeback after the team match was clinched.
The Tar Heels are currently in second place in the ACC, trailing only top-ranked Virginia with matches against 50th-ranked Georgia Tech and 61st-ranked Clemson remaining on their schedule. Wednesday's win was a big one for the Tar Heels, as it removed a proverbial monkey from their back in the form of an 11-game regular season losing streak to Duke dating back to 1996. With two home matches left and the ACC championships in sight, UNC looks to be in top shape to put in an upset bid over the favorite, Virginia, in the tournament.
The win also bumped the Tar Heels' win total up to sixteen in the 2007-08 Carlyle Cup, with Duke remaining at five. The Carlyle Cup is an all-sports competition between North Carolina and Duke that spans the length of the school year. The Cup is sponsored by Greensboro-based jeweler Carlyle & Co., which fans can learn more about online at www.carlylecup.com.
The Tar Heels will now take a day off before playing Georgia Tech at home on Friday, April 11th. The match will be held at 3:30 PM ET at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
"Georgia Tech is a dangerous team, and our matches with them are always very close," Coach Paul said of the upcoming schedule. "Then on Sunday we have a tough Clemson team on Senior Day when we'll get a chance to honor our large senior class."
#11 North Carolina 4, #42 Duke 3
Records: UNC 17-4 (7-1), Duke 7-12 (4-5)
Doubles
#1 Fogleman/Kearney [#10] (UNC) d. Goulet/Price [#50] (Duke) 8-3
#2 Hardy/Donato [#42] (UNC) d. Carleton/Dimitrov 8-6
#3 Arnould/Stone (Duke) vs. David Stone/Tristan Heinrich (UNC) 6-5
Order of finish: 1, 2*, 3
Singles
#1 David Goulet [#50] (Duke) vs. Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) 7-6, 6-4
#2 Reid Carleton [#62] (Duke) d. Stefan Hardy [#73] (UNC) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6
#3 Chris Kearney [#83] (UNC) d. Kiril Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4
#4 Clay Donato (UNC) d. Dylan Arnould (Duke) 6-2, 6-2
#5 Taylor Fogleman (UNC) d. Alex Stone (Duke) 6-2, 6-1
#6 Alain Michel d. Will Plyler (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3*, 6, 1, 2
Players Mentioned
