University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
All-American Pre-Qualifying
Murray, Kelly Join Clark in ITA Qualifying Draw
September 29, 2014 | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. - Two members of the North Carolina men's tennis team - sophomore Jack Murray and freshman Robert Kelly - reserved spots in the ITA All-American qualifying draw after advancing to the final 16 of the pre-qualifying draw on Sunday.
Murray clinched his spot on Sunday with a 6-4, 6-2 victory in the fourth round over Ben Mullis of Drake University. In the third round, which was also played on Sunday, Murray defeated Jacob Wilson of Illinois State 6-3, 6-2.
Kelly, a Chapel Hill native, claimed his spot in the qualifying draw with a convincing 6-4, 6-1 win against Troy's Daniel Bustamante. The freshman beat Arvis Berzins of Fairleigh Dickinson by a 7-5, 6-3 count in the third round.
On Saturday, Murray enjoyed a first round bye before advancing past Florida's Diego Hidalgo in the second round. Kelly routed Rodrigo Oliveira of Illinois State, 6-0, 6-3, in his first round match. In the second round, Kelly advanced past Duke's Cale Hammond after Hammond retired.
Senior Oystein Steiro and junior Stuart DePaolo were eliminated from the pre-qualifying round on Saturday. Steiro fell to Oklahoma's Alex Ghilea in the second round in a three-set match, 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(4). DePaolo lost to Tulane's Sebastian Rey 7-5, 6-1, also in the second round.
Murray and Kelly will join junior Brett Clark in the qualifying draw, which begins Monday. Clark, ranked 36th nationally, is set to take on UMBC's Jaan Konov in his first round match. In other first round matchups, Murray will face Kentucky's Beck Pennington, and Kelly will try to continue his stellar play against the University of Pacific's Sam Verbeek.
Players Mentioned
