University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Headed Back To NCAA Men's Tennis Sweet 16
May 9, 2015 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Senior Esben Hess-Olesen made his final match at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center a memorable one as he won in both singles and doubles to lead the 13th-ranked North Carolina men's tennis team to a 4-1 victory over 20th-ranked Mississippi State in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship Saturday. With the victory, the Tar Heels advance to the NCAA Round of 16 to be played at Baylor University at Waco, Texas next Thursday.
Carolina has now advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 five times since 2006, as the Tar Heels have won regionals in Chapel Hill in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2015 under the leadership of head coach Sam Paul. Since the NCAA Tournament went to a team format in 1976, this marks the third time Carolina has made Final 16 appearances in back-to-back years (1976-77, 1992-93 and 2014-15).
The Tar Heels will play either Illinois or Drake on Thursday in Waco, Texas in the Round of 16 at 12 noon Central Time (1 p.m. Eastern Time).
There was a good deal of irony in the fact that Hess-Olesen, the senior from Viby, Aarhus, Denmark, would be the Carolina hero Saturday. He was a mainstay in the Tar Heel lineup in 2012 and 2013, playing #1 singles the latter year and earning an NCAA singles invitation. But back problems have plagued the Dane the past two years. He played only nine dual matches in singles as a junior and prior to Saturday only seven his senior year. He had only been in the singles lineup three times since January and on two occasions he had to retire due to injury – against Campbell on February 4 and most recently in a win over Duke on April 9. He returned to the doubles lineup on February 17 to pair with Bryaden Schnur at the #1 spot.
But UNC head coach had a hunch he would need Hess-Olesen Saturday and the senior delivered with the clinching point at #6 singles, beating Julian Cash of the Bulldogs 7-5, 6-2 to make the final score 4-1 and send the Tar Heels to Waco.
The doubles point was tense throughout with the matches on courts #1 and #2 remaining on serve through 13 games. Meanwhile, on court 3, Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider got out to a 7-3 lead and appeared ready to get the Tar Heels' first win. But the MSU duo of Juan Cruz Estevarena and Robin Haden bounced back to make it 7-5 as all three matches remained undecided.
The 45th-ranked duo of Brett Clark and Robert Kelly were broken in the ninth game but they broke right back to even things at 5-5. Meanwhile, Hess-Olesen and Schnur on court 1 battled against sixth-ranked Julian Cash and Florian Lakat through 13 games without a break.
The dam then broke in a matter of minutes. Hess-Olesen and Schnur broke the MSU duo for an 8-6 win and moments later Clark and Kelly broke Mate Cutura and Tassilo Schmid for an 8-6 win. Schneider and Murray had double match point on court 3 when their match was suspended.
On Friday, against William and Mary in the NCAA first round, Paul switched out Hess-Olesen in singles at the No. 6 spot, going with Stuart DePaolo instead. On Saturday, he kept the senior in the lineup and it paid dividends.
Freshman Robert Kelly seized momentum in his match early on and cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Tassilo Schmid at #5 singles. The Tar Heels went on to win the first set on four of the five other courts, putting themselves in great position to clinch the match. Mate Cutura beat UNC's Brett Clark at #3 singles by a 6-2, 6-2 count while Jack Murray toughed out a first set win at #4 singles to tip the momentum right back to UNC. Ronnie Schneider had won the first set at #2 singles but fell behind 4-1 in the second set.
UNC's top player, Brayden Schnur, then answered the call against 62nd-ranked Florian Lakat. Schnur won the first set 6-3 and then broke Lakat in the ninth game of the second set and served out for a 6-3, 6-4 win for the nation's 11th-ranked singles player.
The win by the Canadian put the Heels up 3-1 and at that point most of the partisan UNC crowd had made its way down to Hess-Olesen's court. After being down 3-0 in the first set, Hess-Olesen persevered to win the set 7-5, taking seven of the next nine games. He then built a 5-1 lead in the second set before Cash held serve to make it 5-2. Hess-Olesen fell behind love-30 in the 10th game, but secured the next four points in a row to clinch the match, his first singles win since the January 31 match at Illinois.
NOTES:
UNC improved to 23-23 all-time in NCAA Tournament play, including a 21-19 mark under coach Sam Paul.
Carolina finished 2015 a spotless 18-0 in home matches at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. That's the most home wins by Carolina since the 2006 team went 19-1.
UNC is now 4-0 against teams from the Southeastern Conference in its last three NCAA Tournament appearances. The Heels beat Tennessee in the Round of 16 in 2012, South Carolina in the Round of 16 in 2014, Georgia in the quarterfinals in 2014 and Mississippi State in the Round of 16 in 2015.
FINAL SCORE: #13 NORTH CAROLINA 4, #20 MISSISSIPPI STATE 1
Doubles Results (Team winning at least 2 matches earns 1 team point)
1. Esben Hess-Olesen / Brayden Schnur (UNC) d. #6 Julian Cash /Florian Lakat (MSU), 8-6
2. #45 Brett Clark / Robert Kelly (UNC) d. Mate Cutura / Tassilo Schmid (MSU), 8-6
3. Jack Murray / Ronnie Schneider (UNC) led Juan Cruz Estevarena / Robin Haden (MSU), 7-5, suspended
Singles Results (1 team point per match)
1. #11 Brayden Schnur (UNC) d. #62 Florian Lakat (MSU), 6-3, 6-4
2. #28 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) led Juan Cruz Estevarena (MSU), 6-4, 3-4, suspended
3. Mate Cutura (MSU) d. #73 Brett Clark (UNC), 6-2, 6-2
4. Jack Murray (UNC) led Rishab Agarwal (MSU), 7-5, 3-1, suspended
5. Robert Kelly (UNC) d. Tassilo Schmid (MSU), 6-2, 6-1
6. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) d. Julian Cash (MSU), 7-5, 6-2
Updated Records: North Carolina 23-10, Mississippi State 20-8
Order of Finish (Singles): 5, 3, 1, 6
Order of Finish (Doubles): 1, 2
Length of Match: 2:47
Attendance: 273
Players Mentioned
