North Carolina
Duke
No. 16 UNC Bests No. 6 Duke 5-2 On Senior Day
April 10, 2015 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 16 North Carolina men's tennis team topped sixth-ranked archrival Duke 5-2 on Thursday in the Tar Heels' final home match of the season. With the victory, the Tar Heels move to 17-8 (6-3 ACC) and finish a perfect 16-0 at home. Duke drops to 19-4 (6-3 ACC) with the loss.
Carolina's big win was in spite of more bad injury luck. Senior Oystein Steiro, who was honored alongside Esben Hess-Olesen and Andrew Gores as a part of the Senior Day festivities, missed the match due to injury. Fittingly, it was Gores who plugged into the doubles lineup and gave the Tar Heels an unexpected lift.
Gores combined with Hess-Olesen to clinch the doubles point with an 8-5 victory over TJ Pura and Bruno Semenzato on court three. Leading 6-4, Gores was able to hold serve, which allowed Hess-Olesen to serve out the match two games later. After Hess-Olesen prevailed in a long rally on match point, the two embraced as the crowd roared its approval.
UNC's sophomore duo of Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider set up Gores and Hess-Olesen by notching an equally impressive 8-4 triumph against the Blue Devils' 88th-ranked pair of Raphael Hemmeler and Josh Levine on court two.
Carolina went on to claim four of the six singles matches to secure the overall team win.
The Tar Heels did not get off to an ideal start in singles play, though, as Hess-Olesen was forced to retire on court five trailing Duke's Chris Mengel 5-2 in the first set.
Freshman Robert Kelly broke the 1-1 tie not long after by dismissing TJ Pura 6-0, 6-1 on court six. Fifteenth-ranked sophomore Brayden Schnur extended the UNC lead to 3-1 on court one, taking down the Blue Devils' 11th-ranked Nicolas Alvarez 6-3, 6-4.
Duke recorded its second and final team point on court three, where No. 71 Brett Clark fell to 58th-ranke Raphael Hemmeler 7-5, 6-2.
With Schneider and Murray both two games away from sealing a Carolina win, the match was moved indoors at 6:20 p.m. due to the threat of a storm. Neither appeared to be fazed by the change of scenery when play resumed at 6:40 p.m. Schneider, ranked 24th nationally, served out a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory against No. 42 Jason Tahir on court two to clinch the win, and Murray followed up five minutes later with a 7-6(5), 6-2 defeat of Bruno Semenzato on court four.
“Andrew Gores coming here on Senior Day and winning that doubles match was really key for us, and Esben [was key] too,” said UNC head coach Sam Paul. “Then obviously we played really well up and down the line, at all the spots.
“It's great to have Brayden back. He had a big win today. I'm just really proud of my team's performance against an extremely good Duke program.”
The Tar Heels will finish up the regular season with three away matches, beginning with a battle against No. 13 Wake Forest on Sunday at 1 p.m.
#16 North Carolina 5, #6 Duke 2
Singles competition
1. #15 Brayden Schnur (UNC) def. #11 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) 6-3, 6-4
2. #24 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. #42 Jason Tahir (DU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. #58 Raphael Hemmeler (DU) def. #71 Brett Clark (UNC) 7-5, 6-3
4. Jack Murray (UNC) def. Bruno Semenzato (DU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
5. Chris Mengel (DU) def. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) 5-2, retired
6. #109 Robert Kelly (UNC) def. TJ Pura (DU) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. #59 Brett Clark/Robert Kelly (UNC) vs. Nicolas Alvarez/Jason Tahir (DU) 6-7, unfinished
2. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. #88 Raphael Hemmeler/Josh Levine (DU) 8-4
3. Andrew Gores/Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) def. TJ Pura/Bruno Semenzato (DU) 8-5
Match Notes:
Duke 19-4 (6-3 ACC); National ranking #6
North Carolina 17-8 (6-3 ACC); National ranking #16
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (5,6,1,3,2,4)
Moved indoors at 6:20 due to threat of a storm
T-3:56 A-443
Players Mentioned
