University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
East Carolina
Tar Heels Blank Pirates In 2015 Opener
January 16, 2015 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The University of North Carolina men's tennis team, ranked sixth nationally, put its best foot forward in its opening match of the 2015 season, blanking East Carolina 7-0. The match was played indoors at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center and was also the season opener for the Pirates.
The doubles point took just a half hour to play with UNC winning two of the three matches to earn the team point. Sophomores Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider won 6-2 at the #2 spot followed by Robert Kelly and Øystein Steiro winning by a 6-3 margin at #3 doubles. ECU took the other doubles match.
Most of the six singles matches were completed in an hour or less with the No. 4 court going to a third-set super tiebreaker. Overall, the match finished in less than two hours as Carolina won five of the six singles in straight sets.
Nationally second-ranked Brayden Schnur, a sophomore, put UNC up 6-0, 6-2 with a win over ECU's Damien Bernard. Next off the court was Øystein Steiro, who defeated Kasey Countee at #5 singles 6-2, 6-1.
The next three matches ended rapid succession with freshman Robert Kelly winning his first dual as a Tar Heel at #6, Brett Clark winning at #3, bageling the second set, and sophomore Ronnie Schneider winning 6-2, 6-2 at #2 singles.
The match wound up with senior Esben Hess-Olesen outlasting the Pirates' Fredric Lehfeldt, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4).
Carolina will host Longwood in the second match of the doubleheader Friday at 6:30 p.m.
#6 North Carolina 7, East Carolina 0
Doubles (Team Winning Majority Of Matches Earns One Team Point)
Order of match finish: (2, 3, 1)
1. Tendai Tapfuma and Colin Roller (ECU) d. Brett Clark and Brayden Schnur (UNC), 6-4
2. Ronnie Schneider and Jack Murray (UNC) d. Fredric Lehfeldt and Ross Nigro (ECU), 6-2
3. Øystein Steiro and Robert Kelly (UNC) d. Nicolas Soriano and Kasey Countee (ECU), 6-3
Singles (One Team Point Per Singles Match)
Order of match finish: (1, 5, 6, 3, 2, 4)
1. #2 Brayden Schnur (UNC) d. Damien Bernard (ECU), 6-0, 6-2
2. #27 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) d. Nicolas Soriano (ECU), 6-2, 6-2
3. Brett Clark (UNC) d. Tendai Tapfuma (ECU), 6-3, 6-0
4. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) d. Fredric Lehfeldt (ECU), 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4)
5. Øystein Steiro (UNC) d. Kasey Countee (ECU), 6-2, 6-1
6. Robert Kelly (UNC) d. Ross Nigro (ECU), 6-4, 6-1
Records: North Carolina (1-0), East Carolina (0-1)
