North Carolina
Duke
UNC Advances to Round of Sixteen
May 11, 2008 | Men's Tennis
May 11, 2008
Chapel Hill, N.C. - The No. 12 seed North Carolina Tar Heels fulfilled their expectations as one of the top 16 seeds in the NCAA Championships on Sunday, defeating Duke 4-2 to advance to Tulsa, Okla. for the "Sweet Sixteen" of college men's tennis. It is the second time in the last three years UNC has advanced to the Final 16 of the NCAA Championships and the sixth time it has done so since the tournament went to a team format in 1977.
Even the adjustment from outdoor to indoor courts couldn't deter the regional hosts, as the uncertainty of where and when the match would be played due to dismal weather merely delayed UNC's second victory over Duke this season. The Tar Heels retain their point in the annual Carlyle Cup standings between the two teams. UNC has clinched this year's Carlyle Cup competition 18-8. The win means that the Tar Heels draw Mississippi, winners of its own regional, as their next opponent in the NCAA tournament.
"I'm so proud of everybody," Head Coach Sam Paul said after Fogleman's Sweet 16-clinching win. "My seniors have worked hard and shown great leadership, and today was a total team effort."
Sunday's match drew the largest crowd the Tar Heels have had all season, as fans anticipating an intense match between the nearby rivals filled the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center's second-floor seating prior to the match. The hosts didn't disappoint, either. Sophomores Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy opened up with an 8-5 win over Reid Carleton and Kiril Dimitrov that extended their win streak to 11 matches. That left two back-and-forth matches to decide the team point. Down 7-8 to 33rd-ranked David Goulet and Christopher Price at No. 1 doubles, the sixth-ranked duo of Taylor Fogleman and Chris Kearney mounted a comeback capped off by a 7-2 tiebreaker win that delivered a 1-0 team lead to UNC with six singles matches left to play.
Duke came out fighting in singles, though. The Blue Devils two top players, Goulet and Carleton, led a small comeback that left Duke with a 2-1 lead following their individual wins. UNC then pulled even behind the efforts of All-ACC singles player Donato, who beat Dylan Arnould in straight sets. Immediately after the completion of Donato's match, late lineup replacements David Stone and Alain Michel began a tiebreaker to decide the outcome of their battle of a second set. Stone prevailed 8-6, making the team score 3-2 in the Tar Heels favor and setting the stage for a dramatic finish. Stone was down 5-2 in the second set before rallying to force the tiebreaker that led to his triumph.
"I've been playing tennis for a long time, and this is probably the greatest feeling I've ever had," said Stone after his team's emotional victory. "The crowd was great, and I was just enjoying being out there."
Fogleman and Alex Stone wasted no time in heightening the drama for the overflow crowd, as a close second set turned into yet another tiebreaker between the long-time rivals. Fogleman won the first set and led 4-1 in the second before Stone staged a furious rally of his own to earn the tiebreaker. After a series of point exchanges that left Stone up 3-2, Fogeleman won four straight points. At that point, Stone's wide ground stroke ended the Blue Devils's season, ensuring a 4-2 UNC win. As Fogleman turned to the crowd of cheering fans, his teammates mobbed him, celebrating UNC's return to the round of 16 after a year's absence.
"It's great, we're ecstatic," said Fogleman of the team's NCAA tournament run. "We got to the Sweet 16 my freshman year and it is an unbelievable experience to go back there again."
Duke finishes the season 11-14, ranked 43rd in the nation. UNC improves its record to 21-5 with the win. The Tar Heels will now face fifth-seeded Mississippi in the round of 16 on Friday, May 16 in Tulsa. The two teams met in the regular season in the opening round of the ITA Team Indoors on February 15 in Seattle. Ole Miss pulled out a 4-1 win on that occasion, but not without suffering an upset of their then nationally fifth-ranked singles player, Matthias Wellerman, to Stefan Hardy.
"We're going to get healthy, enjoy today, and then we'll get ready for Ole Miss," said Coach Paul of preparation for the Mississippi match. "We haven't been thinking about who we're going to play next round, we're just trying to play the best we can, and we still can get better."
#12 North Carolina 4, #43 Duke 2
Records: UNC 21-5, Duke 11-14
Doubles
#1 Fogleman & Kearney [#6] (UNC) d. Goulet & Christopher Price [#33] (Duke) 9-8(2)
#2 Hardy & Donato [#54] (UNC) d. Carleton & Dimitrov 8-5
#3 Arnould & Stone (Duke) vs. David Stone & Tristan Heinrich (UNC) 6-5
Order of finish: 2, 1*
Singles
#1 David Goulet [#55] (Duke) vs. Benjamin Carlotti [#105] (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
#2 Reid Carleton [#78] (Duke) d. Stefan Hardy [#73] (UNC) 6-2, 6-4
#3 Chris Kearney [#91] (UNC) vs. Kiril Dimitrov (Duke) 6(8)-7, 6-1, 1-0
#4 Clay Donato (UNC) d. Dylan Arnould (Duke) 6-2, 6-4
#5 Tayor Fogleman (UNC) d. Alex Stone (Duke) 6-2, 7-6(3)
#6 David Stone (UNC) d. Alain Michel (Duke) 6-0, 7-6(6)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 4, 6, 5*
Players Mentioned
