2019-20 Season Summary By The Numbers

2019-20 Carolina Men's Tennis
Season Summary by the Numbers

1 - Carolina finished the 2019-20 season with just one loss and a record of 12-1. That marks the Tar Heels' fewest losses in a season in 48 years, since they went 24-1 in 1973.

1 – UNC earned its first-ever No. 1 ranking in the Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25 poll, released on February 5 after wins over No. 19 Illinois and No. 13 South Carolina.

1 – Senior Ladd Harrison earned the 2019-20 UNC Athletic Director's Scholar-Athlete Award as the top senior academically on the men's tennis team.

2 – The Tar Heels were ranked No. 2 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in the last poll before the season was suspended and should retain that ranking in the final poll of the season. That would mark the highest finish in the ITA poll in program history, surpassing the No. 3 final ranking in 2017.

2 – Carolina finished second at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in February in Madison, Wisc. The Tar Heels won the ITA Indoor title in 2016 and have reached at least the semifinals in four of the last five years.

2 – Junior Benjamin Sigouin won ACC Player of the Week honors twice within a month's span (for the weeks of February 11 and March 10).

3 - Three Tar Heels earned recognition on the ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor All-Tournament Team. Senior William Blumberg grabbed a spot at No. 1 singles and freshman Rinky Hijikata earned recognition at No. 3 singles. Hijikata and junior Benjamin Sigouin were honored at No. 3 doubles.

3 – The UNC doubles duo of Mac Kiger and Simon Soendergaard climbed to as high as No. 3 in the nation in the ITA Doubles rankings (in the week of February 5). Kiger and Soendergaard wonthe ITA Carolina Regional doubles title and reached the semifinals of the ITA National Fall Championships.

7 – Carolina won seven matches over top-20 ranked opponents, beating No. 19 Illinois, No. 12 South Carolina, No. 11 TCU, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 3 Florida, No. 1 Ohio State and No. 7 North Carolina State.

9 – Senior William Blumberg climbed to as high as No. 9 in the ITA singles rankings (as of March 3). He posted a 10-0 record in the spring of 2020 and was poised for a run at a fourth consecutive All-America finish prior to the cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Championships. He earned ACC and National Player of the Week honors on February 4 after beating the 2019 NCAA champion and another 2019 NCAA semifinalist in the same weekend against Illinois and South Carolina.

10 – Carolina won 10 matches by shutout in 2019-20 on the way to a 12-1 overall record.

25 – The Tar Heels have won the doubles point in 25 of their last 26 dual matches, dating to the Miami match on March 24, 2019.

26 – UNC has won 26 consecutive home matches, a streak dating to the 2018 season.

42 – Benjamin Sigouin was ranked as high as No. 42 in the ITA singles rankings (on February 18). He beat No. 38 Raphael Lambling of South Carolina in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on February 14.

47 – Freshman Rinky Hijikata joined the Tar Heel program with a bang this spring and reached as high as No. 47 in the ITA singles rankings, posting a 4-0 record and winning a qualifying match at the Australian Open in January in his home country.

80 – Senior Josh Peck was a stalwart once again for the Tar Heels, reaching as high as No. 80 in the ITA singles rankings.

500 – Head coach Sam Paul won his 500^th career match when UNC beat No. 1-ranked Ohio State in the semifinal of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Paul, the winningest active coach in Atlantic Coast Conference and the winningest coach in school history, is in his 27thseason as the head coach at UNC.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

William Blumberg

Ladd Harrison

Rinky Hijikata

Mac Kiger

Josh Peck

Benjamin Sigouin

Simon Soendergaard

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