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UNC Advances To Second Round of NCAAs With 4-0 Win
May 8, 2009 | Men's Tennis
May 8, 2009
CHARLOTTESVILLE, N.C. - The No. 37 UNC Tar Heels scored a decisive victory on Friday over their higher-ranked opponent in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
North Carolina swept 31st-ranked South Carolina 4-0 to advance to the second round of the NCAA Championships on Saturday against Virginia.
"I think we're hitting our stride as a team," said head coach Sam Paul. "[Friday's match] was one of the best matches we've played all year and we're getting better every day."
Freshmen Brennan Boyajian and Zach Hunter opened up the match with an 8-6 victory at No. 3 doubles. The next match to finish was the top-25 showdown at No. 1 doubles between UNC's 17th-ranked duo of Clay Donato and Taylor Fogleman and USC's 24th-ranked pair of Diego Cubas and Ivan Machado. Donato and Fogleman emerged victorious by the score of 8-5, which delivered the team doubles point and a 1-0 lead to North Carolina.
The Tar Heels extended their lead to 2-0 after Cameron Ahari won his No. 6 singles match by the score of 6-4, 6-2. Ahari, who was used sparingly during North Carolina's regular season, has made major contributions to the Tar Heels' postseason success. He also clinched UNC's ACC Tournament win against Clemson with a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 6 singles.
Clay Donato followed Ahari with a 6-4, 6-2 win of his own over No. 54 Cubas at the top singles spot. Donato, who was selected to play in the individual portion of the NCAA Tournament for both singles and doubles, recorded his 25th singles victory of the year by beating Cubas. Andrew Crone followed with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles to clinch the team victory for UNC, the fifth and final individual match win that the Tar Heels recorded on Friday.
"The team is coming together at the right time," said Donato. "We're hitting on all cylinders right now, which is a major positive."
UNC will take on the tournament's overall No. 1 seed, Virginia, on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers beat the Tar Heels twice this year, once in the ACC regular season and once in the ACC Tournament.
"We've had our chances against Virginia this year," said Donato. "We're excited to get another chance when it really counts."
#37 UNC 4, #31 USC 0
Records: UNC 17-10, USC 15-11
Doubles
1: Donato and Fogleman [#17] (UNC) d. Cubas and Machado [#24] (USC) 8-5
2: Campos and Veeder (USC) vs. Crone and Rafiee (UNC) 6-5 DNF
3: Boyajian and Hunter (UNC) d. Cuellar and Pulsfort (USC) 8-6
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles
1: Clay Donato [#32] (UNC) d. Diego Cubas [#54] (USC) 6-4, 6-2
2: Taylor Fogleman [#63] (UNC) vs. Pedro Campos (USC) 6-4, 3-1 DNF
3: Brennan Boyajian (UNC) vs. Jaime Cuellar (USC) 6-1, 5-4 DNF
4: Andrew Crone (UNC) d. Ivan Machado (USC) 6-3, 6-4
5: Johannes Pulsfort (USC) vs. Luke Mojica (UNC) 7-5, 1-4 DNF
6: Cameron Ahari (UNC) d. Ivan Cressoni (USC) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 1, 4
Players Mentioned
