North Carolina
Florida State
Tar Heel Tennis Rallies Past Seminoles 4-3
April 16, 2010 | Men's Tennis
April 16, 2010
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. - Sophomore Brennan Boyajian persevered to win a three-set match at No. 4 singles for the deciding point as No. 19 North Carolina bounced back from a heartbreaking loss at Duke three days ago by defeating No. 27 Florida State 4-3 in men's tennis action Friday evening at Scott Spelcher Tennis Center on the FSU campus. With the win, Carolina improves to 17-5 overall this year and 7-3 in the ACC. Carolina trailed 3-1 in the match Friday before winning the last three singles matches to come off the court, claiming the come-from-behind win.
As is often the case in ACC matches, the match came down to the slimmest of margins at 4-3. UNC earned the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots and the teams split the six singles matches. Boyajian's victory at No. 4 singles was the only match to go a full three sets.
UNC's Cameron Ahari and Boyajian were the first off the court in doubles as they defeated Jordan Kelly-Houston and Jean-Yves Aubone 8-3 at the No. 2 spot. Carolina then clinched the point at No. 3 doubles as Andrew Crone and Jose Hernandez downed Clint Bowles and Andres Burcaro handily 8-3. FSU won at No. 1 doubles in a battle of nationally-ranked teams after the Tar Heels had already clinched the point.
FSU won the next three points to go up 3-1. The Seminoles won at the No. 6 spot where Anderson Reed defeated Zach Hunter 6-3, 6-2. Twenty-seventh ranked Jean-Yves Aubone defeated 46th-ranked Clay Donato of Carolina 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1 to make it 2-1 and then No. 69 Clint Bowles downed No. 116 Stefan Hardy 6-3, 7-6 (3) at No. 3 singles.
North Carolina then began its comeback at the No. 2 spot in the lineup as No. 53-ranked Jose Hernandez of UNC defeated No. 48 Vaid Mirzadeh 6-3, 6-4. Cameron Ahari then defeated Jordan Kelly-Houston of the Seminoles at No. 5 singles 6-4, 6-3.
Ahari's match concluded while the 85th-ranked Boyajian was in a second set tiebreaker against Andres Bucaro at No. 4 singles. Boyajian won the first set 6-2 but the second set went to a tiebreaker where Bucaro won 7-2. The UNC sophomore from Weston, Fla. seized control of the match in the third set, winning 6-2 to put the Tar Heels in the win column and keep UNC's chance for a third place finish in the ACC alive.
The win for Carolina was its 10th in a row at Tallahassee. UNC has gone 10-0 against the Seminoles in Florida's capital city since Florida State joined the ACC in 1992. UNC head coach Sam Paul is now 9-0 against FSU in Tallahassee. The Seminoles fell to 13-7 overall and 7-4 in the ACC with the loss.
UNC completes its regular season Sunday with a 1 p.m. match at Miami. The Hurricanes are coming off a 4-3 upset win over No. 14 Duke Friday. UNC defeated Miami earlier this season 4-2 in a neutral site match in Athens, Ga.
No. 19 North Carolina 4 def. No. 27 Florida State 3
Doubles
2) Ahari/Boyajian (UNC) def. Kelly-Houson/Aubone (FSU) 8-3
3) Crone/Hernandez (UNC) def. Bowles/Bucaro (FSU) 8-2
Order of finish: 2,3,1
Singles
1) No. 27 Jean-Yves Aubone (FSU) def. No. 46 Clay Donato (UNC) 7-5, 6-2
2) No. 53 Jose Hernandez (UNC) def. No. 48 Vahid Mirzadeh (FSU) 6-3, 6-4
3) No. 69 Clint Bowles (FSU) def. No. 116 Stefan Hardy (UNC) 6-2, 7-6 (3)
4) No. 85 Brennan Boyajian (UNC) def. Andres Bucaro (FSU) 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-2
5) Cameron Ahari (UNC) def. Jordan Kelly-Houston (FSU) 6-4, 6-3
6) Anderson Reed (FSU) def. Zach Hunter (UNC) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 6,1,3,2,5,4
Records:
UNC 17-5, ACC 7-3; FSU 13-7, ACC 7-4
Players Mentioned
