Tar Heels Pick Up Big Road Win at No. 14 Illinois

Saturday, February 9

Urbana-Champaign, Ill.

6:00 PM CT

North Carolina

Illinois

Benjamin Sigouin sealed the team win with a victory on Court 2.

February 9, 2019 | Men's Tennis

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Sophomore Benjamin Sigouin gutted out a pivotal three-set victory Saturday night to earn eighth-ranked North Carolina a 4-3 men's tennis win at No. 14 Illinois. The Tar Heels improved to 5-1 with the win, while the Ilini fell to 3-1

After starting the season at home with a 4-0 record, UNC traveled to Texas last weekend and fell 5-2 to the Longhorns in a top-10 battle. Saturday's match was another chance to earn a standout road win, and this time the Tar Heels did just that.

Playing at Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill., the Tar Heels opened with the doubles point behind wins on Court 2 (Blaine Boyden and William Blumberg) and Court 3 (Mac Kiger and Simon Soendergaard).

In singles, Illinois picked up a quick win on Court 4 to even the score at 1-1. The second match to finish was also a win for the Illini, on Court 5. Trailing 2-1, the Tar Heels won the next two points. On Court 3, junior Josh Peck earned a 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 30 Zeke Clark to tie the team score at 2-2. The next to finish was Court 6, where Boyden beat Siphosothando Montsi 6-4, 7-5. With that, UNC led 3-2 and needed just one of the two remaining matches, on Courts 1 and 2.

Court 1 was the next to finish, in a three-set loss by junior William Blumberg. Illinois' Aleks Kovacevic, ranked No. 24 nationally, came back to win the second and third sets after Blumberg took the first.

With the score tied at 3-3, the team result came down to the one singles match still active. When No. 23 Alex Brown failed to make a return on match point, Sigouin fell to the court and teammates sprinted over to mob him. The 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 victory was his first of the spring against a ranked foe.

Final UNC 4, Illinois 3 Ben Sigouin clinches the victory in a tough road venue in Champaign 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 over Alex Brown pic.twitter.com/5cqS4qL9o2
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) February 10, 2019

Carolina returns to Illinois next weekend, for the ITA Team Indoor Championships Feb. 15-18 in Chicago.

No. 8 UNC 4, No. 14 Illinois 3
Doubles
Order of match finish: 3,2
1. Brown/Chakravarthi (UI) v. Cernoch/Sigouin (UNC), 4-4 UF
2. Boyden/Blumberg (UNC) d. Mayo/Kovacevic (UI), 6-2
3. Kiger/Soendergaard d. Budic/Clark (UI), 6-3

Singles
Order of match finish: 4,5,3,6,1,2
1. #24 Aleks Kovacevic (UI) d. #52 William Blumberg (UNC), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. #23 Alex Brown (UI), 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4
3. #36 Josh Peck (UNC) d. #30 Zeke Clark (UI), 6-3, 6-4
4. #125 Keenan Mayo (UI) d. #77 Brian Cernoch (UNC), 6-4, 6-2
5. #116 Caleb Chakravarthi (UI) d. Simon Soendergaard (UNC), 6-3, 6-3
6. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Siphosothando Montsi (UI), 6-4, 7-5

Records: UNC 5-1, Illinois 3-1