Carolina Captures 4-1 Win Over Louisville

Wednesday, February 5

Louisville, Ky.

2:30 PM

North Carolina

Louisville

Freshman Schnur Nabs Weekly ACC Accolade

February 5, 2014 | Men's Tennis

By: UNC Athletic Communications

LOUISVILLE, KY. - The North Carolina men's tennis team continued its strong early season play as the #28 Tar Heels defeated the #49 Louisville Cardinals 4-1 Wednesday afternoon at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

With the victory, the Tar Heels improved to 7-1 on the season while the Cardinals fell for only the second time and they are now 5-2 on the campaign.

The victory avenged a 4-2 loss in Chapel Hill to the Cardinals last year. UNC now leads the all-time series 2-1. This marks the last time the teams will meet as non-conference foes as Louisville joins the Atlantic Coast Conference for the 2014-15 school year.

"This was a great road win for us. I continue to be very proud of our guys. We have a lot of young players coming up big for us," said UNC head coach Sam Paul. "This is a difficult place to play and Louisville is very well coached. We got down early in doubles but made a great comeback to get the point."

For the second straight match, UNC played a singles lineup consisting of four true freshmen along with sophomore Brett Clark and senior co-captain Nelson Vick, who is only in his second year in the program after transferring from Ohio State. The match was played under NCAA experimental rules in place for 2014 early-season spring matches. Tiebreakers are now played at 5-5 instead of 6-6 and all games consist of no-ad scoring.

In doubles, freshmen Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider dropped their first match of the season after winning their opening seven matches. But the Tar Heels responded by winning at #3 and #1 doubles to claim the point. Vick combined with junior co-captain Esben Hess-Olesen to win at #3 doubles 6-4. Hess-Olesen, coming off an injury, has played well in doubles the past two matches as he eases his way back into the lineup. UNC then won the doubles point by winning at the #1 spot. Clark combined with freshman Brayden Schnur to win 6-5 at #1 singles. Clark and Schnur blanked Seb Stiefelmeyer and Van Damrongsri 8-0 in the tiebreaker.

Michael Lippens of the Cardinals won a straight set match at #6 singles to pull the match even at 1-1 before the Tar Heels ran off three straight singles victories.

Freshman Bryaden Schnur defeated Seb Stiefelmeyyer at #1 singles 6-4, 6-1 as the Tar Heels retook the lead in the team score. Stiefelmeyer led 3-0 in the first set before Schnur clamped down and claimed victory in 12 of the last 13 games of the match. Schnur improved to 6-0 in singles since arriving in Chapel Hill last month.

Nelson Vick then defeated Luis Elizondo 6-3, 6-3 at #4 singles to put the Tar Heels up by a 3-1 score. Shortly after Vick's victory, freshman Ronnie Schneider improved to 19-3 on the season in singles action by winning his match at #2 where he defeated Albert Wagner 6-5 (8-6), 6-3. It marked the second straight match in with Schneider clinched the singles win. He did the same in a 5-2 win over Illinois last Saturday.

The Tar Heels will next be in action when they host a doubleheader at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center next Sunday. UNC will face #35 TCU at 12 noon and then host North Carolina Central at 6 p.m.

#28 North Carolina 4, #49 Louisville 1

Doubles (Team Winning Majority Of Matches Earns One Team Point)

Order of match finish: (2, 3, 1)

Notes: Tiebreakers played at 5-5

1. Brett Clark and Brayden Schnur (UNC) d. Seb Stiefelmeyer and Van Damrongsri (LOU), 6-5 (8-0)

2. Albert Wagner and Chris Simich (LOU) d. Ronnie Schneider and Jack Murray (UNC), 6-3

3. Nelson Vick and Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) d. Alex Gornet and Luis Elizondo (LOU), 6-4

Singles (One Team Point Per Singles Match)

Order of match finish: (6,1,4,2)

1. Brayden Schnur (UNC) d. Seb Stiefelmeyer (LOU), 6-4, 6-1

2. #17 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) d. Albert Wagner (LOU), 6-5 (8-6), 6-3

3. #36 Brett Clark (UNC), led Alex Gornet (LOU), 6-5, 2-2, suspended