North Carolina
Duke
#14 Blue Devils Hand #19 Tar Heels Tough 4-3 Defeat
April 13, 2010 | Men's Tennis
April 13, 2010
DURHAM, N.C.-The 19th-ranked North Carolina men's tennis team took a hard-fought away defeat Tuesday afternoon against #14 Duke, falling 4-3.
With the loss, the Tar Heels drop to 16-5 (6-3) and enter a four-way tie for third place in the ACC, as the Blue Devils solidify their spot in second place with a 15-6 (8-1) record.
The fight for the doubles point set the tone for the tight match. The Tar Heels took the critical point with a couple of huge upsets. In the top flight, the 27th-ranked pair of Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy defeated the nation's top-ranked doubles duo in Duke's Reid Carleton and Henrique Cunha, 9-7. Donato and Hardy handed the pair their first loss in 12 matches, and also their first in ACC play.
Shortly after, UNC's second pairing of Cameron Ahari and Brennan Boyajian dispatched the 64th-ranked team of Dylan Arnould and David Holland, 8-6. After the point was clinched Duke managed to pull one back in the third, as Alain Michel and Torsten Wietoska topped Andrew Crone and Jose Hernandez by a score of 9-7.
In singles, the Tar Heels and Blue Devils got into a back and forth affair. Duke grabbed the early lead through Jared Pinsky in the fifth flight, who downed Zach Hunter 6-3, 6-2. The Heels came right back at the fourth flight, as #85 Brennan Boyajian dropped Duke's Torsten Wietoska 7-6, 6-2. Duke's Luke Marchese, winner of 11 consecutive matches, re-tied the match with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Andrew Crone at the sixth flight. Stefan Hardy, ranked #116, put the Heels back in front with a 7-6, 6-2 upset over #104 Dylan Arnould.
At the top flight, the Heels' Clay Donato came agonizingly close to defeating the 3rd-ranked singles player in the nation in Duke's Henrique Cunha. After Donato won the first set in a tiebreaker, Cunha showed why he is a 5-time ACC Player of the Week as he roared back to win the next two sets to tie the match again.
With the match tied at 3-3, the battle at the second flight between North Carolina's #53 Jose Hernandez and Duke's #86 Reid Carleton was going deep into the third set. After dropping the first 4-6, Hernandez came back to take the second 6-3. In the final set, with Hernandez up 5-4, 30-0 serving for the match, the officials moved the match indoors due to wet conditions. During the delay, Hernandez started cramping but still managed to take the final set into a tiebreaker. Carleton won the first two points, then lost the next five only to win the subsequent five to take the tiebreaker 7-5 and give Duke the win.
After the match, head coach Sam Paul said he was proud of his team's effort.
"I'm just really proud of our guys and how hard they fought," Paul said. "Jose really worked hard out there. We're getting better, we're building at the right time."
The match was worth one point in the 2009-10 Carlyle Cup standings, the all-sports trophy that the two teams compete for annually based on competition in 24 sports. UNC leads the current Cup standings 11.5 points to 8.5 points. UNC has won the Carlyle Cup five times, Duke three times and there has been one tie since its inaugural season of 2000-01. In their next match, the Tar Heels will face Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. on Friday, April 16 at 5 p.m.
#14 Duke 4, #19 UNC 3
Records: Duke 15-6 (8-1), UNC 16-5 (6-3)
Doubles:
1. #27 Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy (UNC) d. #1 Reid Carleton and Henrique Cunha (DU) 9-7
2. Cameron Ahari and Brennan Boyajian (UNC) d. #64 Dylan Arnould and David Holland (DU) 8-6
3. Alain Michel and Torsten Wietoska (DU) d. Andrew Crone and Jose Hernandez (UNC) 9-7
Singles
1. #3 Henrique Cunha (DU) d. #46 Clay Donato (UNC) 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-2
2. #86 Reid Carleton (DU) d. #53 Jose Hernandez (UNC) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5)
3. #116 Stefan Hardy (UNC) d. Dylan Arnould (DU) 7-6(2), 6-2
4. #85 Brennan Boyajian (UNC) d. Torsten Wietoska (DU) 7-6(5), 6-2
5. Jared Pinsky (DU) d. Zach Hunter (UNC) 6-3, 6-2
6. Luke Marchese (DU) d. Andrew Crone (UNC) 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish:
Doubles: 1, 2*, 3
Singles: 5, 4, 6, 3, 1, 2*
Players Mentioned
