Tar Heels Advance To Semis With Shutout Of Louisville

Friday, April 19

Cary, N.C.

11:30 AM

North Carolina

Louisville (ACC Quarterfinals)

Playing at No. 2 singles, Josh Peck clinched Friday's 4-0 win over Louisville.

April 19, 2019 | Men's Tennis

ACC Championship Central Box Score

By: UNC Athletic Communications

DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina advanced in Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Tennis Championship play Friday afternoon, beating Louisville 4-0 for the second time in less than a week. The match was played at Duke's Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center due to stormy weather in the area.

UNC improved to 18-5 this spring and will meet second-seeded Virginia Saturday at 10 a.m. in the ACC semifinals, which are expected to shift back to Cary Tennis Park, weather permitting. All matches were moved indoors on Friday, split between the facilities at Duke, UNC and Cary Tennis Park. Virginia advanced with a 4-0 win over Florida State, playing on the indoor courts at UNC's Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

While the third-seeded Tar Heels were opening ACC Tournament play with Friday's match, 11^th-seeded Louisville already had a win under its belt after beating sixth-seeded Georgia Tech, a team that beat UNC during the season, 4-3 in a second-round matchup on Thursday.

"Louisville had a great win yesterday so we knew they'd be coming out with a lot of energy," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "I'm proud of our guys for rising to the challenge and being ready to go. It was a good performance."

Against the Cardinals, the Tar Heels had to fight for the doubles point. After a quick 6-2 win on Court 3 by junior Simon Soendergaard and sophomore Mac Kiger, the other two courts were simultaneously evened up at 5-5. Ultimately senior Blaine Boyden and junior Josh Peck locked up the point on Court 2 when a Louisville return went long on match point to give the Tar Heels a 7-5 win.

Boyden/Peck win 7-5 pic.twitter.com/53b7hWLp8K
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 19, 2019

In singles, UNC won five of six first sets then wrapped up the win with three straight-sets victories in a span of a minute. The first to finish was senior Blaine Boyden on Court 4, who locked up a 6-2, 6-3 win when Fabien Salle sent a return sailing long and high. Moments later on the adjacent court, Kiger made it 3-0 Tar Heels with a 6-4, 6-3 win over David Mizrahi at the No. 6 spot.

Moments later sophomore Benjamin Sigouin served for the win on Court 1, but when Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff took that point, it was Peck who closed out, winning 6-3, 6-1 over Brandon Lancaster on Court 2.

FINAL UNC 4 UL 0 Josh Peck breaks to clinch 6-3, 6-1; UNC faces UVA in Saturday's #ACCMTEN SF's at 10 am pic.twitter.com/rIWY1sgQHG
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 19, 2019

The Tar Heels beat the Cardinals by the same score last Sunday in Louisville in the final match of the regular season.

With the match wrapping up right at 3 p.m., UNC has a turnaround time of just 19 hours until Saturday's matchup with Virginia.

The Tar Heels faced the fifth-ranked Cavaliers just over a week ago, falling 4-2 in Charlottesville, Va., in the second-to-last match of the regular season. UNC and UVa last met in the ACC Tournament in 2017, when the Cavaliers won 4-3 in the semifinals.

No. 9 North Carolina 4, Louisville 0

Singles
Order of finish: 4,6,2