North Carolina
Duke
Tar Heels Move On to ACC Finals With 4-1 Win Over Duke
April 26, 2014 | Men's Tennis
CARY, N.C. - The third-seeded North Carolina men's tennis team punched its ticket to the final round of the 2014 ACC Championships with a 4-1 defeat of second-seeded rival Duke at Cary Tennis Park on Saturday.
The Tar Heels improve to 24-4 on the season and will face Virginia in the final on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Cary Tennis Park. Duke drops to 19-6 with the loss.
Carolina edged Duke in doubles for the third time this spring before Brett Clark, Ronnie Schneider and Nelson Vick all notched singles wins to seal the match.
In doubles, Brayden Schnur and Brett Clark, ranked 35th nationally, continued their stellar play of late with an 8-3 victory over Duke's 52nd-ranked Fred Saba and Raphael Hemmeler on court one.
Duke countered soon after on court three, where Bruno Sementazo and Cale Hammond rallied to hand Carolina's freshmen duo of Ronnie Schneider and Jack Murray a rare loss, 8-3.
With the doubles point on the line, Oystein Steiro and Nelson Vick broke Duke's pair of Jason Tahir and Josh Levine to force a tiebreaker on court two. The Tar Heels' veteran duo trailed early in the tiebreaker but ultimately recovered, rattling off three straight points to seal the doubles point for the Tar Heels, 8-7(5).
Unlike the two previous meetings with the Blue Devils this spring, the Tar Heels did not slow down in singles play.
Sophomore Brett Clark, ranked 73rd nationally, notched his 35th singles victory of 2013-14 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Raphael Hemmeler at No. 3. Clark did not get broken in the match.
The Blue Devils' 92nd-ranked Bruno Sementazo responded with a 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot to cut the Tar Heels' lead to 2-1, but it proved to be the first and last win for Duke on the day.
Carolina's 35th-ranked Ronnie Schneider added to the Tar Heels' lead on court two with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of No. 36 Fred Saba, and senior Nelson Vick sent the Tar Heels to their first ACC Championship appearance since 2007 with a 7-6(5), 6-3 triumph over TJ Pura on court six.
"I'm just really proud of my team," said head coach Sam Paul. "It was a long ride back from Duke last Sunday if you can believe that. We went back and watched some video [of last Duke match] and the guys stepped up and turned it around."
The Tar Heels have a tall task ahead of them in the Virginia, which will be seeking its eighth consecutive ACC Championship crown on Sunday.
Players Mentioned
