North Carolina
Tulsa
Top Of Singles Lineup Powers #20 UNC Past #23 Tulsa
January 22, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 22, 2012
TULSA, OKLA. - The 20th-ranked North Carolina men's tennis team bounced back from a Saturday loss to sixth-rated Stanford to beat 23rd-ranked Tulsa less than 24 hours later, downing the Golden Hurricane 5-2 Sunday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. UNC won the doubles point and then swept the top four singles spots, all in straight sets.
The Tar Heels evened their record at 1-1 while Tulsa fell to 0-3. The Golden Hurricane has lost so far to #14 California 4-3, #6 Stanford 4-3 and #20 UNC 5-2.
Carolina stepped up in doubles play, sweeping all three spots in the lineup just two days after the Golden Hurricane had swept all three doubles matches against Stanford. Freshman Esben Hess-Olesen and senior Joey Burkhardt won in doubles for the second straight day, making quick work of 37th-ranked Grant Ive and Tristan Jackson 8-2 at #2 doubles. Carolina clinched the point at #3 doubles as junior Jose Hernandez and senior Zach Hunter defeated Japie DeKlerk and Lucian Gheorghe by the same 8-2 score. With the doubles point already clinched, the two teams played a tiebreaker at #1 doubles after the score was knotted at seven apiece. Senior Brennan Boyajian and freshman Oystein Steiro pulled off the upset over nationally third-ranked Ashley Watling and Clifford Marsland by winning the tiebreaker 8-6.
Carolina quickly assumed a 3-0 lead by winning the first two matches off the court in singles. At #2, Boyajian whipped the 83rd-ranked Watling 6-1, 6-3. Shortly after that Hess-Olesen defeated Marsland 6-3, 6-3 at #3. The Tar Heel freshman from Denmark finished the weekend 2-0 in both singles and doubles.
Tulsa pulled within 3-1 with a victory at the #6 spot. Alejandro Sanchez downed UNC's William Parker 6-1, 6-3. The Tar Heels clinched the win at #4 singles as Burkhardt won his second singles match of the weekend, beating Jackson 6-1, 6-4. UNC's nationally 30th-ranked Jose Hernandez then made it 5-1 with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over DeKlerk at #1 singles. The final team point went to Tulsa with a win at #5 singles as Gheorghe downed Steiro 6-4, 7-6 (3).
The Tar Heels will travel to Atlanta, Ga., next weekend to play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend. The Tar Heels will meet Illinois next Sunday in Atlanta while Auburn will meet host Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are the #1 seed in the tournament followed by #2 seed Illinois, #3 seed UNC and #4 seed Auburn. The winner of the two-day tournament advances to the ITA Team Nationals in February in Charlottesville, Va. UNC and Illinois played in last year's NCAA Tournament with the Fighting Illini winning a second round match 4-1 over the Tar Heels in Champaign, Ill.
No. 20 North Carolina 5, No. 23 Tulsa 2
Doubles (Team Winning Majority Of Matches Earns One Team Point)
Order of match finish: 2, 3, 1
2. Joey Burkhardt and Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) d. #37 Grant Ive and Tristan Jackson (TLS), 8-2
3. Jose Hernandez and Zach Hunter (UNC) d. Japie De Klerk and Lucian Gheorghe (TLS), 8-2
Singles (One Team Point Per Singles Match)
Order of match finish: 2, 3, 6, 4, 1, 5
1. #30 Jose Hernandez (UNC) d. Japie De Klerk (TLS), 6-3, 6-2
2. Brennan Boyajian (UNC) d. #83 Ashley Watling (TLS), 6-1, 6-3
3. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) d. Clifford Marsland (TLS), 6-3, 6-3
4. Joey Burkhardt (UNC) d. Tristan Jackson (TLS), 6-1, 6-4
5. Lucian Gheorghe (TLS) d. Oystein Steiro (UNC), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Alejandro Sanchez (TLS) d. William Parker (UNC), 6-1, 6-3
Records: North Carolina 1-1, Tulsa 0-3
Players Mentioned
