University of North Carolina Athletics
No. 15 Tar Heels Face Demon Deacons In ACC Quarters Friday
April 21, 2011 | Men's Tennis
April 21, 2011
CARY, N.C.- After a first-round bye, the No. 15 North Carolina men's tennis team opens Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament play Friday at noon against No. 32 Wake Forest from Cary Tennis Park.
The Tar Heels (14-6, 9-2 ACC) enter the tournament riding a three-match home winning streak. After beating rival No. 13 Duke last Wednesday, Coach Sam Paul's team beat No. 25 Miami and No. 44 Florida State over the weekend to lock up the No. 2 seed in the conference.
Wake Forest (13-10, 6-6 ACC) entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Demon Deacons made quick work of Clemson this afternoon, winning 4-0. Paul said the Tar Heels are looking forward to the challenge.
"Wake Forest is a very good team," Paul said. "They'll be a great challenge for us Friday."
North Carolina looks to exact tournament revenge over Wake Forest, who beat the Tar Heels in last year's quarterfinal by a close 4-3 margin.
In their only regular season matchup, North Carolina handed Paul his 300th program win with a 4-3 away victory on March 20. The match wasn't as close as the final score indicated, with the Tar Heels clinching after going up 4-1.
An interesting matchup that could decide the doubles point will be at the No. 1 flight, where No. 41 Joey Burkhardt and Stefan Hardy (8-3 ACC) will most likely face off against Wake's No. 39 pairing of Iain Atkinson and David Hopkins. Burkhardt and Hardy have won two of three after moving to the first flight.
A key for the Tar Heels on both sides of the dual match will be reigning ACC Player of the Week Brennan Boyajian. Eighty-first ranked Boyajian went 8-2 in ACC singles play this season, including two-set victories in his last three matches. He also sparked the Tar Heel win over Wake Forest with wins in singles and doubles.
William Parker has had an outstanding sophomore season for the Tar Heels. Parker clinched the match against the Deacons, and finished ACC play with a near-impeccable 9-2 record competing in the fifth flight.
The matchup to watch will be on the first court, where No. 22 Jose Hernandez will likely face off against No. 85 Jonathan Wolff. Hernandez also went 9-2 in the ACC, including a season-defining win over Duke's No. 7 Henrique Cunha to clinch the match against the Blue Devils last week. Wolff, a senior, clinched Wake's victory Thursday over Clemson, and with the win entered Wake Forest's top 10-career singles victory list.
Players Mentioned
