Saturday, March 10
Durham, NC
1:30 PM
North Carolina
4
at
3
Duke
Freshman Mac Kiger helped UNC to a win over Duke Saturday.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
No. 8 Carolina Claims Rivalry Win At No. 12 Duke, 4-3
March 10, 2018 | Men's Tennis
DURHAM, N.C. – Benjamin Sigouin and Mac Kiger have been UNC students for just a few months, but that's enough time to grasp the importance of a Carolina-Duke matchup. The Tar Heel freshmen, both of whom enrolled in January, won singles matches Saturday to earn the final two points as eighth-ranked UNC beat No. 12 Duke 4-3 in an Atlantic Coast Conference men's tennis matchup.
Sixth-ranked UNC improved to 11-3 overall and 2-0 in ACC play with the win, which started about 14 hours after the Tar Heels watched their men's basketball counterparts beat the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
"My parents went here so I've been a UNC fan forever," said Kiger, who is from New York, N.Y. "I watch all the basketball games and go crazy like everyone else. To be a part of it is insane."
Sigouin is from Vancouver and perhaps didn't have the same appreciation for the rivalry when he arrived in Chapel Hill. "Now I do, for sure," he said. "The first basketball game, two weeks ago … I definitely got a sense (of the rivalry). I love it. It was a lot of fun today and I knew it was going to be."
Playing inside at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on a damp, gray afternoon, the Tar Heels rallied to clinch the doubles point. Coming off what Paul had called his team's worst doubles performance of the season in a loss to Texas last Sunday, the Tar Heels got a 6-2 win on Court 2 from Sigouin and Anu Kodali to jump ahead. The Blue Devils then won 6-3 on Court 3, putting all eyes on Court 1, where Carolina senior Robert Kelly and sophomore William Blumberg battled Spencer Furman and Nick Stachowiak. The Duke duo led 5-3 and had two match points at 5-4, but the Tar Heels pulled out a 7-5 win to put UNC ahead. "Will and Rob did an unbelievable job staring down two match points," Sigouin said. "If we don't win that match, we probably don't win."
"That was huge to get that doubles point," Paul said. "It gave us a tremendous amount of momentum."
Still, in singles the Tar Heels won the first set on just three courts. Duke earned a point with a straight sets win on Court 4, where Stachowiak beat UNC sophomore Josh Peck 6-1, 6-1 to tie the team score. No. 25 Nicolas Alvarez then earned a win over Blumberg, the nation's top-ranked player, 6-3, 6-4.
The Blue Devil lead was short-lived, however. Minutes later Carolina junior Blaine Boyden won 6-2, 6-2 on Court 5 to even the team score at 2-2. He remains undefeated in singles this spring at 11-0. "Bo has been a rock for us all year," Paul said.
At that point, the Tar Heels held the third-set lead on all three remaining courts. Kiger, on Court 6, was the first to close out. He won his first set 6-3, but then fell in the second. He closed out a 6-3 win in the third with a backhand that Sean Sculley volleyed wide on the return. "That's big for Mac, his first really tough, pressure match," Paul said. "He's a tough kid and a great player."
That made the team score 3-2. Two courts over, Sigoun led 5-2 and was serving for the match while on Court 3 Kelly was fighting for a victory over Mateas, who would eventually win 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
But as Duke tied the score at 3-3 with that win on Court 3, the Tar Heels were moments from victory. Sigouin led 40-0 and launched a serve that Furman returned into the net, setting off a team celebration worthy of the rivalry.
"Duke has got a heck of a team and they battled hard all the way through," Paul said. "It was a great collegiate tennis match and I'm proud of my guys to come over here and win against a tough team."
Next up for UNC is more intra-Triangle tennis, when the Tar Heels travel to face NC State in Raleigh on Wednesday. Meanwhile the coming week is UNC's Spring Break, putting the focus squarely on tennis while classes are out. "I'm glad we have Spring Break now," Paul said. "There are some things we're going to look at and work on a little bit more."
No. 8 North Carolina 4, No. 12 Duke 3
Doubles
Order of match finish: (2,3,1)
1. #6 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) d. Stachowiak/Furman (DU), 7-5
2. Kodali/Sigouin (UNC) d. Alvarez/Mateas (DU), 6-2
3. Sculley/Lapidus (DU) d. Soendergarrd/Kiger (UNC), 6-3
Singles
Order of match finish: (4,1,5,6,3,2)
1. #25 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) d. #1 William Blumberg (UNC), 6-3, 6-4
2. #44 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. Spencer Furman (DU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
3. Catalin Mateas (DU) d. #120 Robert Kelly (UNC), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
4. Nick Stachowiak (DU) d. Josh Peck (UNC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Ryan Dickerson (DU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Mac Kiger (UNC) d. Sean Sculley (DU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Records: UNC 11-3 (2-0 ACC), Duke 10-6 (1-1 ACC)
Sixth-ranked UNC improved to 11-3 overall and 2-0 in ACC play with the win, which started about 14 hours after the Tar Heels watched their men's basketball counterparts beat the Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
"My parents went here so I've been a UNC fan forever," said Kiger, who is from New York, N.Y. "I watch all the basketball games and go crazy like everyone else. To be a part of it is insane."
Sigouin is from Vancouver and perhaps didn't have the same appreciation for the rivalry when he arrived in Chapel Hill. "Now I do, for sure," he said. "The first basketball game, two weeks ago … I definitely got a sense (of the rivalry). I love it. It was a lot of fun today and I knew it was going to be."
Playing inside at Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center on a damp, gray afternoon, the Tar Heels rallied to clinch the doubles point. Coming off what Paul had called his team's worst doubles performance of the season in a loss to Texas last Sunday, the Tar Heels got a 6-2 win on Court 2 from Sigouin and Anu Kodali to jump ahead. The Blue Devils then won 6-3 on Court 3, putting all eyes on Court 1, where Carolina senior Robert Kelly and sophomore William Blumberg battled Spencer Furman and Nick Stachowiak. The Duke duo led 5-3 and had two match points at 5-4, but the Tar Heels pulled out a 7-5 win to put UNC ahead. "Will and Rob did an unbelievable job staring down two match points," Sigouin said. "If we don't win that match, we probably don't win."
UNC 1 Duke 0 Blumberg/Kelly rally from 3-5 to clinch Dbls Pt, 7-5 pic.twitter.com/a6lFxnkmW4
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) March 10, 2018
"That was huge to get that doubles point," Paul said. "It gave us a tremendous amount of momentum."
Still, in singles the Tar Heels won the first set on just three courts. Duke earned a point with a straight sets win on Court 4, where Stachowiak beat UNC sophomore Josh Peck 6-1, 6-1 to tie the team score. No. 25 Nicolas Alvarez then earned a win over Blumberg, the nation's top-ranked player, 6-3, 6-4.
The Blue Devil lead was short-lived, however. Minutes later Carolina junior Blaine Boyden won 6-2, 6-2 on Court 5 to even the team score at 2-2. He remains undefeated in singles this spring at 11-0. "Bo has been a rock for us all year," Paul said.
Bo Boyden discussed the significance of today's Duke win & being part of the special rivalry #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/NOYrRIbIu7
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) March 11, 2018
At that point, the Tar Heels held the third-set lead on all three remaining courts. Kiger, on Court 6, was the first to close out. He won his first set 6-3, but then fell in the second. He closed out a 6-3 win in the third with a backhand that Sean Sculley volleyed wide on the return. "That's big for Mac, his first really tough, pressure match," Paul said. "He's a tough kid and a great player."
That made the team score 3-2. Two courts over, Sigoun led 5-2 and was serving for the match while on Court 3 Kelly was fighting for a victory over Mateas, who would eventually win 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
But as Duke tied the score at 3-3 with that win on Court 3, the Tar Heels were moments from victory. Sigouin led 40-0 and launched a serve that Furman returned into the net, setting off a team celebration worthy of the rivalry.
Final UNC 4 Duke 3 Ben Sigouin clinches 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 pic.twitter.com/qnJEibNo26
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) March 10, 2018
"Duke has got a heck of a team and they battled hard all the way through," Paul said. "It was a great collegiate tennis match and I'm proud of my guys to come over here and win against a tough team."
Next up for UNC is more intra-Triangle tennis, when the Tar Heels travel to face NC State in Raleigh on Wednesday. Meanwhile the coming week is UNC's Spring Break, putting the focus squarely on tennis while classes are out. "I'm glad we have Spring Break now," Paul said. "There are some things we're going to look at and work on a little bit more."
No. 8 North Carolina 4, No. 12 Duke 3
Doubles
Order of match finish: (2,3,1)
1. #6 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) d. Stachowiak/Furman (DU), 7-5
2. Kodali/Sigouin (UNC) d. Alvarez/Mateas (DU), 6-2
3. Sculley/Lapidus (DU) d. Soendergarrd/Kiger (UNC), 6-3
Singles
Order of match finish: (4,1,5,6,3,2)
1. #25 Nicolas Alvarez (DU) d. #1 William Blumberg (UNC), 6-3, 6-4
2. #44 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. Spencer Furman (DU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
3. Catalin Mateas (DU) d. #120 Robert Kelly (UNC), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
4. Nick Stachowiak (DU) d. Josh Peck (UNC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Ryan Dickerson (DU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Mac Kiger (UNC) d. Sean Sculley (DU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Records: UNC 11-3 (2-0 ACC), Duke 10-6 (1-1 ACC)
Players Mentioned
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