University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Top Notre Dame On Senior Day
April 16, 2017 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina men's tennis team celebrated Senior Day Sunday with a 6-1 win over No. 41 Notre Dame, finishing the regular season undefeated at home and with a record of 66-2 at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center over the past four years.
UNC is now 21-3 on the season and 8-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
On a warm, sunny afternoon, the Tar Heels led off by quickly earning the doubles point, with senior Ronnie Schneider and sophomore Anu Kodali winning 6-1 on Court 3 and then junior Robert Kelly and freshman William Blumberg locking up the 1-0 lead with a 6-2 win on Court 1.
“This was a fantastic performance from us in doubles,” UNC coach Sam Paul said. “My associate head coach Tripp Phillips has been getting the guys going, doing a great job with our guys in doubles. We played well and I think that really helped set the tone.”
With the advantage in hand, the team then took a short break in the action for Senior Day ceremonies honoring Schneider, Jack Murray and fifth-year senior Chad Hoskins. With the honorees and their families lined up facing the bleachers and the rest of the team just behind them, Paul spoke to the crowd about each of his seniors. The Tar Heel coach touted not just his seniors' athletic accomplishments (2016 ITA National Team Indoor Championship, three NCAA Elite Eights) but their community service work, their fields of study (history/economics double major for both Murray and Hoskins, and business administration for Schneider) and their contributions to the legacy of Carolina tennis.
“They've just meant so much to us,” Paul said.
UNC 1 Notre Dame 0 pic.twitter.com/HV2hcxp0K9
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 16, 2017
After applause from the fans, it was time for the Tar Heels to put the emotion of the day behind them and get back to work. As singles got underway, Blumberg, currently ranked No. 40, made short work of Eddy Covalschi on Court 2. The freshman let out a yell as he won 6-3, 6-1 to earn a point for his team and improve to 10-0 this spring in ACC singles play.
On Court 4, Murray won his first set 6-1 and claimed the second 7-5 when Matt Gamble returned a serve into the net. Make it UNC 3, Notre Dame 0.
Sophomore Blaine Boyden provided the clinching singles win for Carolina on Court 5, beating Guillermo Cabrera 6-3, 6-3 to make the score UNC 4, Notre Dame 0.
Moments later, Kodali wrapped up a 7-5, 6-2 win over Grayson Broadus on Court 6.
That left just two courts in action: No. 1 and No. 3. On the top court, 17th-ranked Schneider had dropped the first set 2-6 to No. 57 Josh Hagar, but he battled back to win the second on a tiebreaker, 7-5 after having trailed 0-2 early on. Because the Tar Heels had clinched the team win prior to the end of their second set, Schneider and Hagar launched from one tiebreaker into another, this one a 10-pointer to decide the match. “I've always had great battles with Josh and today was nothing different,” Schneider said.
Meanwhile on Court 3, Tar Heel freshman Simon Soendergaard beat Alex Lebedev 6-2 in the first set but lost by the same score in the second. The two started their third set before UNC had clinched, so played it out in the traditional fashion.
The Tar Heels and Fighting Irish gathered on Court 2 to root for their teammates, turning back and forth to offer encouragement both ways. For the UNC players it was a stark contrast, as they were cheering for one teammate in his final regular season home match and another whose collegiate career is just getting started.
On Court 1, when Hagar couldn't get to a return, Schneider raised his arms in triumph to celebrate his 10-6 victory then fell to the court and kissed it, to the delight of the crowd. “We had great crowd support today on an Easter holiday – I couldn't have asked for anything else,” he said.
FINAL UNC 6 ND 1 #17 Schneider d. #59 Hagar 2-6 7-6(5) 1-0(6) pic.twitter.com/Uys5EKU0Xy
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 16, 2017
On Court 3, Soendergaard trailed 1-3, broke serve to crawl back to 2-3 then aced out a game to make it 3-3. He got to 4-4 but ultimately fell 4-6 to make the final score 6-1 Tar Heels.
It was the second meeting of the season between UNC and Notre Dame. The Tar Heels won 4-0 in Chapel Hill on Jan. 27 as part of ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
UNC now has just two regular-season matches remaining: at Georgia Tech on Friday and at Louisville next Sunday (April 23).
“An undefeated home regular season is a great accomplishment for our guys and now we hit the road,” Paul said. “We're looking forward to playing two tough teams on the road and then the ACC Tournament.”
Following the win, UNC is 100-25 overall in the past four years.
No. 13 UNC 6, No. 41 Notre Dame 1
Doubles
Order of match finish: (3,1)
1. #8 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) d. #19 Covalschi/Hagar (ND), 6-2
2. Soendergaard/Murray (UNC) vs. Gamble/Lebedev (ND), 5-1
3. Kodali/Schneider (UNC) d. Broadus/B. Kempin (ND), 6-1
Singles
Order of match finish: (2,4,5,6,1,3)
1. #17 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) d. #59 Josh Hagar (ND), 2-6, 7-6(5), 1-0(6)
2. #40 William Blumberg (UNC) d. Eddy Covalschi (ND), 6-3, 6-1
3. Alex Lebedev (ND) d. Simon Soendergaard (UNC), 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Jack Murray (UNC) d. Matt Gamble (ND), 6-1, 7-5
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Guillermo Cabrera (ND), 6-1, 6-3
6. Anu Kodali (UNC) d. Grayson Broadus (ND), 7-5, 6-2
Records: UNC 21-3 (8-2 ACC), Notre Dame 12-11 (3-7 ACC)
Players Mentioned
