Tar Heels Ready For Quarterfinals Matchup With Top-Seeded Buckeyes

North Carolina takes the next step in NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament play Thursday when the Tar Heels meet top-ranked Ohio State in a quarterfinals match at the USTA Campus in Orlando. The match starts at 5 p.m. and will air live on the Tennis Channel.

UNC (21-6) is seeded ninth in the field and is playing to reach the NCAA semifinals for the second time in program history. OSU (32-2) is the No. 1 seed in the field, which started with 64 teams and is now down to just eight.

The Tar Heels have reached the quarterfinals for the fifth time in the past six years, with the exception being last season, when UNC was ousted by Southern California in the Round of 16. This year Carolina faced the same match-up but got a different result, beating the Trojans in Los Angeles on Saturday to advance to the championship site. It marked UNC's first-ever win over USC and the first-ever NCAA Tournament loss at home for the 21-time NCAA champions.

Now UNC faces another massive challenge in the Buckeyes, who were the NCAA runner-up in 2018 and are in the quarterfinals for the fourth year in a row, the 16^th time overall.

"Ohio State has got a great program and a great team," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "We've prepared for this all year long. We're excited about it."

The Tar Heels are making their 24^th NCAA Tournament appearance in Paul's 26th year at the program's helm.

"Every year, our main goal is to play our best tennis in May and I think that's what we're doing right now," said Blaine Boyden, the Tar Heels' only senior and one of the team captains. "And that's a testament to our coaches and everyone that's been helpful with our development throughout the year."

UNC is the only school with both men's and women's programs in Orlando. The top-ranked Tar Heel women are the No. 2 seed in the field and face seventh-seeded UCLA on Friday at noon, and the teams stand by ready to support each other. "It's Carolina tennis," Paul said, "and we take a lot of pride in that."

Congratulations to @carolinatennis @UNC_wtennis , as UNC is the only school with Womens/Mens team advancing to #NCAATennis @NCAATennis Championships @usta #NationalCampus See BOTH on @TennisChannel beginning Thursday! 🐏🎾🌴☀️🏆🎉@GoHeels
— Sam Gore (@sambgore) May 14, 2019

Tar Heels Ready For Quarterfinals Matchup With Top-Seeded Buckeyes

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Players Mentioned

Blaine Boyden