UNC Advances In ITA Kick-Off Play With Win Over Notre Dame

Friday, January 27

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1:30 PM

North Carolina

Notre Dame

January 28, 2017 | Men's Tennis

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A hard-fought doubles point and strong play by Tar Heel upperclassmen propelled the North Carolina men's tennis team to a 4-0 win over Notre Dame Friday in ITA Kick-Off Weekend play at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

“Notre Dame has got a heck of a team,” UNC coach Sam Paul said. “It's good for us to be in this environment and in this situation.”

With the win in front of a rowdy crowd of Tar Heel fans, Carolina improved to 6-0 on the spring and will face Vanderbilt Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The winner moves on to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships Feb. 17-20 in Charlottesville, Va.

There is no charge for admission to Saturday's match and fans in attendance will get free pizza. Additionally, the first 50 UNC students at the game will receive free Carolina Tennis t-shirts and one fan will win a $100 gift card from Bin 54. “The crowd today was great and we appreciate everybody coming out,” Paul said. “We hope to have a lot of support on Saturday against Vanderbilt.”

Against Notre Dame, which edged the Tar Heels 5-2 on the road last year in Atlantic Coast Conference play, UNC got battles at all three doubles spots. Sophomores Blaine Boyden and Anu Kodali fell 6-4 at No. 3, putting the Fighting Irish close to registering the first point against UNC this season. But seniors Ronnie Schneider and Jack Murray brought the Tar Heels back to even when they scratched out a 6-4 win that created celebrations on the court and among the enthusiastic crowd of several hundred. The No. 1 team of junior Robert Kelly and freshman William Blumberg then delivered the doubles point to UNC with a 7-5 win over Notre Dame's Edward Covalschi and Josh Hagar, ranked No. 10 nationally.

“Everyone has confidence that we're going to get that point,” Kelly said. “Winning four out of six singles is tough – we know we can do it, but winning three is a lot easier. Today, if we hadn't gotten the doubles point, who knows what happens.”

With the advantage in hand, the Tar Heels dove into singles, picking up wins in all six first sets, with tie-breaker wins on No. 1 and No. 6. They quickly made it 3-0 with a straight-sets win by Kelly at No. 4 and, three minutes later, one by Murray at No. 5.

The match then continued for almost 45 more minutes, with Notre Dame winning second sets on three courts before Schneider wrapped up his match with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win.

Final UNC 4, ND 0. Schneider breaks Hagar at 5-4 deuce pt to clinch the match 7-6, 6-4 pic.twitter.com/ucws941V0l
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) January 27, 2017

The UNC singles lineup featured three freshmen, with Simon Soendergaard making his Tar Heel debut at No. 3. In addition to No. 1 doubles, Blumberg played at No. 2 singles. Josh Peck rounded out the lineup at No. 6.

“This win is really good for us,” Murray said. “Notre Dame competes really well up and down the line. We know we can play with anyone, but it's a matter of coming and competing every single day. I think this win will help give us confidence to do that in the future.”

In the first match of the day, Vanderbilt beat Penn State 4-1 to advance. Notre Dame and Penn State will meet Saturday in the consolation game at 3:30 p.m, prior to the 6:30 UNC-Vanderbilt matchup. “Having a night match is always fun and we generally get a pretty good crowd,” Murray said. “I think it's just going to be a great time.”

Jan. 27, 2017

Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.

No. 7 North Carolina 4, Notre Dame 0

Doubles

Order of match finish: (3,2,1)

1. Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) d. Covalschi/Hagar (ND), 7-5

2. Murray/Schneider (UNC) d. Gamble/Lebedev (ND), 6-4

3. Broadus/Kempin (ND) d. Boyden/Kodali (UNC), 6-4

Singles

Order of match finish: (4,5,1)

1. Ronnie Schneider (UNC) d. Josh Hagar (ND) 7-6 (4), 6-4

2. William Blumberg (UNC) vs. Edward Covalschi (ND), 6-0, 3-6, 5-4 UF