North Carolina
Rice
Tar Heel Tennis Team Wins Fourth Straight
March 10, 2010 | Men's Tennis
March 10, 2010
HOUSTON, TEXAS--The 30th-ranked University of North Carolina men's tennis team continued its outstanding play in tight matches Wednesday as Coach Sam Paul's Tar Heels defeated No. 51 Rice 4-3 at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. Carolina has now won four matches in a row to improve to 9-2 on the season with its only losses to Top 10 teams Georgia and Ohio State.
Carolina jumped off to a 1-0 lead after the doubles point. Rice easily won at the No. 3 spot, but UNC rallied to capture the point. First, Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy beat 51st-ranked Michael Nuesslein and Christian Saravia 8-5 at the No. 1 spot. The point was then decided at No. 2 doubles where Brennan Boyajian and Ryan Noble of UNC fought off Bruno Rosa and Isamu Tachibana 8-6.
UNC seized more momentum as 49th-ranked Clay Donato almost bageled 25th-ranked Bruno Rosa of the Owls 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles to put the Heels up 2-0. Carolina made it 3-0 in the team score as 68th-rated Jose Hernandez of the Carolina Blue scored a straight-set 6-1, 6-3 win over Oscar Podlewski at the second singles spot. Rice pulled within 3-1 with a win by Christian Saravia 6-2, 6-2 over UNC's Andrew Crone at No. 6 singles.
Stefan Hardy of the Tar Heels clinched the match at No. 3 singles. Hardy, ranked No. 103 nationally, earned a straight set 6-3, 6-4 win over Michael Nuesslein. The Owls won the last two points, with Tachibana winning in straight sets over Noble at No. 5 singles and Sam Goforth-Bles winning an 11-9 proset from Boyajian after the two players split the first two sets.
Carolina has now beaten four nationally-ranked teams away from Chapel Hill -- Miami, Michigan, VCU and Rice. The Tar Heels will open ACC play next Monday when the North Carolina plays host to NC State at 3 p.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
#30 North Carolina 4, #51 Rice 3
Singles competition
1. #49 Clay Donato (UNC) def. #25 Bruno Rosa (RICE) 6-1, 6-0
2. #68 Jose Hernandez (UNC) def. Oscar Podlewski (RICE) 6-1, 6-3
3. #103 Stefan Hardy (UNC) def. Michael Nuesslein (RICE) 6-3, 6-4
4. Sam Garforth-Bles (RICE) def. #97 Brennan Boyajian (UNC) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9)
5. Isamu Tachibana (RICE) def. #107 Ryan Noble (UNC) 7-5, 6-4
6. Christian Saravia (RICE) def. Andrew Crone (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Clay Donato/Stefan Hardy (UNC) def. #51 Michael Nuesslein/Christian Saravia (RICE) 8-5
2. Brennan Boyajian/Ryan Noble (UNC) def. Bruno Rosa/Isamu Tachibana (RICE) 8-6
3. Dennis Polyakov/Oscar Podlewski (RICE) def. Andrew Crone/Cameron Ahari (UNC) 8-3
Records & Rankings:
North Carolina 9-2; National ranking #30
Rice 6-6; National ranking #51
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,2,6,3,5,4)
Players Mentioned
