University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Hit 20-Wins Mark With Victory Over Hokies
March 27, 2016 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The top-ranked North Carolina men's tennis team beat visiting Virginia Tech 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center to reach the 20-wins mark for the third season in a row. UNC is now 20-1 on the season and 5-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. The Hokies, ranked No. 45, fell to 12-5 (4-3 ACC).
Next up for the Tar Heels is a 1-vs.-2 matchup on Friday, when Carolina hosts second-ranked Virginia at 3 p.m.
Sunday's match was played indoors due to rainy conditions in Chapel Hill. “This is obviously a tough match – we thought they were under-ranked,” said senior Brett Clark, one of the team captains. “We knew we had to be ready. Everyone played well and I think everyone improved from the Clemson match (on Friday). Moving indoors because of the conditions outside, I thought everyone settled in pretty nicely.”
The doubles point came down to the marquee matchup, between two top-10 pairs: UNC's third-ranked team of Clark and sophomore Robert Kelly, and Virginia Tech's seventh-ranked team of Andreas Bjerrehus and Joao Monteiro. With the other two matches already finished and the teams having split, No. 1 was in the spotlight, fittingly, with the full focus of an enthusiastic crowd. The Hokies fought back from a 5-1 UNC lead to make it 5-4. After overcoming two break points, Kelly's service winner finally locked up a 6-4 win and put Carolina up 1-0. The win was the 100th career doubles victory for Clark, who hit that mark in singles earlier this season.
“When I was a freshman I saw seniors getting 100 wins and it was just mind-boggling how you could get to that number,” said Clark, who knew going into Sunday's match he was one away from that milestone. “Going into the season that was my goal, to hit both marks. It just means I've had great, great partners over the years and a great team to keep pushing me every day and great coaches. I owe it all to them, because they're the ones that make me better.”
Moving on to singles, Tar Heels took the first set in five of six matches. Freshman Blaine Boyden was the first to earn a point, beating Aaron Gomez at No. 6, 6-1, 6-2.
Kelly then won 6-4, 6-3 over #72 Edoardo Tessaro at No. 3. For the fourth match in a row, junior Jack Murray clinched, winning 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4 over Mitch Harper.
The Hokies claimed the No. 5 spot, with a 6-3, 7-5 win by Jai Corbett over UNC freshman Anu Kodali. The top two spots, where the players had split the first two sets, both went to 10-point tiebreakers in place of an entire third set.
Junior Ronnie Schneider, playing at No. 1, was able to pull out a win, claiming the tiebreaker 10-8 over Monteiro. Schneider won the first set 7-5 but fell 6-0 in the second. “Joao is a great player – I think he's even taken a step up this year – so to get a win over him is really good,” Schneider said. “The first set was really high-level, and the second set he just played incredible – there wasn't that much I could do. In the third set, I was able to pull it out, fortunately. Overall I was really happy with how our team played. Virginia Tech is really good and that was a big win for Brett and Kelly in the doubles.
At No. 2, Clark fell to Amerigo Contini 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(3) to make the final 5-2.
March 27, 2016
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
No. 1 North Carolina 5, No. 45 Virginia Tech 2
Doubles
Order of match finish: (3,2,1)
1. #3 Robert Kelly/Brett Clark (UNC) d. #7 Andreas Bjerrehus/Joao Monteiro (VT), 6-4
2. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) d. Amerigo Contini/Edoardo Tessaro (VT), 6-3
3. Jai Corbett/Mitch Harper (VT) d. Andrew Gores/Brayden Schnur (UNC), 6-3
Singles
Order of match finish: (6,3,4,5,1,2)
1. #23 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) d. #21 Joao Monteiro (VT), 7-5, 0-6, 1-0(8)
2. Amerigo Contini (VT) d. #37 Brett Clark (UNC), 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(3)
3. #82 Robert Kelly (UNC) d. #72 Edoardo Tessaro (VT), 6-4, 6-3
4. #95 Jack Murray (UNC) d. Mitch Harper (VT), 6-4, 6-4
5. Jai Corbett (VT) d. Anu Kodali (UNC), 6-3, 7-5
6. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Aaron Gomez (VT), 6-1. 6-2
Records: North Carolina 20-1 (5-1 ACC), Virginia Tech 12-5 (4-3 ACC)
Players Mentioned
