North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Tar Heels Remain Perfect In ACC With Comeback Win
April 1, 2011 | Men's Tennis
April 1, 2011
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Tar Heel men's tennis team fought back from an early deficit to pull out a key ACC win against Virginia Tech Friday afternoon, downing the Hokies 4-3, in an indoor match.
The 17th-ranked Tar Heels needed the win to remain undefeated in conference Play at 5-0 and are now 10-4 overall. Carolina is scheduled to face Virginia, the only other undefeated ACC team, on Sunday afternoon in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers are the nation's top-ranked team.
This was the fourth time in the last five matches between the two teams that has been decided by a 4-3 score in UNC's favor. It was the second straight season in which senior Stefan Hardy clinched the win for UNC. Taylor Fogleman did so in 2007 and Benjamin Carlotti in 2007.
The 36th-ranked Hokies jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after sweeping all three doubles matches played. That lead was extended when Will Beck opened up singles play for Virginia Tech with a straight-sets win, making the team score 2-0.
UNC and Virginia Tech then swapped points, as Brennan Boyajian recorded a 6-2, 6-2 victory to bring the Tar Heels back within one only to see Lucas Oliveira extend the lead back to two with a 6-1, 7-5 win at #6 singles. After Oliveira's match, Virginia Tech held a 3-1 dual match lead, needing only one point to clinch a victory.
The Tar Heels came charging back behind the efforts of William Parker, Jose Hernandez and Stefan Hardy. Parker started the run with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Corrado Degl'Incerti Tocci, and Hernandez kept it going with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at the top singles flight to tie the dual match. Hardy made it the deepest in his singles match of any Tar Heel on Friday, but won a second-set tiebreaker 7-5 to clinch a 4-3 victory for UNC.
North Carolina will now put a seven-game winning streak on the line when they face the nation's top-ranked team, Virginia, on Sunday. The match will begin at 1 p.m., and the winner will have sole possession of first place in the ACC.
#17 North Carolina 4, #36 Virginia Tech 3
Records: UNC 10-4 (5-0 ACC), Virginia Tech 11-7 (3-3 ACC)
Doubles
1. #66 Will Beck and Pedro Graber (TECH) def. #21 Brennan Boyajian and Jose Hernandez (UNC) 8-5
2. Luka Somen and Corrado Degl'Incerti Tocci (TECH) def. #59 Joey Burkhardt and Stefan Hardy (UNC) 8-4
3. Patrick Daciek and Trpimir Kujundzic (TECH) def. Cameron Ahari and Zach Hunter (UNC) 9-7
Order finished: 2,1,3
Singles
1. #38 Jose Hernandez (UNC) d. #50 Luka Somen (TECH) def. 6-3, 6-3
2. Brennan Boyajian (UNC) def. Patrick Daciek (TECH) 6-2, 6-2
3. Stefan Hardy (UNC) def. Pedro Graber (TECH) 6-3, 7-6(5)
4. Will Beck (TECH) def. #58 Joey Burkhardt (UNC) 6-3, 6-4
5. William Parker (UNC) def. Corrado Degl'Incerti Tocci (TECH) 6-4, 6-4
6. Lucas Oliveira (TECH) def. Zach Hunter (UNC) 6-1, 7-5
Order finished: 4,2,6,5,1,3
Players Mentioned
