Rewind: Brayden Schnur Leads #1 Tar Heels Over #3 UVA

In the wake of the shutdown of 2019-20 spring NCAA sports due to the coronavirus pandemic, GoHeels.com is publishing a series of stories looking back at some of the top Tar Heel moments from this spring and past years.

On this day in Tar Heel men's tennis history, Brayden Schnur beat defending NCAA singles champ Ryan Shane 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5) to clinch No. 1-ranked Carolina's second win over No. 3 Virginia in 2016.

Read the summary and highlights below.

CHAPEL HILL (APRIL 1, 2016)—The top-ranked North Carolina men's tennis team earned its sixth top-10 win of the season Friday afternoon, beating No. 3 Virginia 4-3 before the largest crowd of the spring at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The win over the Cavaliers was UNC's second this year but the first at home in a decade.UNC improved to 21-1 overall and 6-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play with the victory, while Virginia fell to 16-3 and 6-1 in the ACC.

Prior to Friday, Carolina hadn't beaten Virginia in Chapel Hill since 2006, when the Tar Heels won 4-3 at Cone-Kenfield on April 14. That was also the last time the Cavaliers had lost an ACC regular-season contest.

"What a great match – high-level tennis all the way up and down the line," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "Virginia's got a great team, a great program. They handle everything with class. I'm just really proud of our team and proud of our effort."

Virginia started fast in doubles, winning 6-0 at the number three spot, but everything else about the day's first point was hotly contested. UVA led 6-5 on both remaining courts, but the Tar Heel duos fought their way into tiebreakers on each and eventually won. First the No. 2 team of juniors Schnur and Jack Murray wrapped theirs up at 7-5. On court No. 1 minutes later, sophomore Robert Kelly's serve was returned long by Virginia, giving UNC an 8-6 tie-breaker win and the doubles point. Kelly and partner Brett Clark are ranked No. 3 nationally and beat a top-10 opponent for the second match in a row, in this case second-ranked Ryan Shane and Luca Corinteli.

In singles, UNC won first sets on five of six courts. The first to lock up a win was Kelly, who had suffered his only singles loss of the season in the last match-up with Virginia, on Feb. 15 in Charlottesville in the finals of the ITA National Indoor Team Championship. In that match, Kelly fell 6-2, 6-3 to J.C. Aragone, but this time the Tar Heel turned the tables, beating Aragone by those same scores to give UNC a 2-0 lead.

Virginia earned its first point of the afternoon on court 4, with Henrik Wiersholm beating Murray 6-2, 6-3. Carolina freshman Anu Kodali then wrapped up the final match on the lower courts with an ace, beating Mac Styslinger 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6 to pull UNC within a point of the team victory.

Meanwhile, the top three matches went into third sets after the Cavalier players all earned second-set wins. "We were locked in dogfights everywhere else," Paul said.

Schnur, playing at No. 1, went into a third-set tiebreaker as Schneider lead in his third set on No. 2 and Clark held the advantage on No. 3. Both Schneider and Clark would eventually fall, but Schnur made sure the Tar Heels still got the team win by claiming the tie-breaker 7-5 to seal the win over eighth-ranked Shane, the defending NCAA singles champion. "I knew he's a really good player," said Schnur, who also beat Shane in a third-set tie-breaker in the February matchup. "He has a lot of weapons. but I knew eventually I'd get my break and get back in the match, and as long as I played my game I'd be fine."

Schnur gave credit to the rowdy crowd of 500-plus for energizing the Tar Heels. "I thought the crowd was the biggest factor – that was the biggest crowd we've had, at least since I've been here, and that played a huge role in today's win," he said.

And Paul echoed that, in Schnur's case in particular. "On big days, big occasions, he's just there – he's done it his whole career," Paul said of his No. 1 player. "He loves the moment and loves the bigger crowds. I'm really happy for him."

Next up for UNC is another top-10 battle, this one against No. 6 Wake Forest, which visits for a match on Sunday at 1 p.m. Knowing that the Demon Deacons are headed to Chapel Hill kept the Tar Heels grounded after Friday's win. "It's definitely a big accomplishment – Virginia is a really good team and they have a really good program, but the season's not over," Schnur said. "It's just one match and we have another really big match on Sunday against Wake Forest."

April 1, 2016
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.
No. 1 North Carolina 4, No. 3 Virginia 3

Doubles
Order of match finish: (3,2,1)
1. #3 Robert Kelly/Brett Clark (UNC) d. #2 Ryan Shane/Luca Corinteli (VA), 7-6 (8-6)
2. Brayden Schnur/Jack Murray (UNC) d. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski/Mac Styslinger (VA), 7-6 (7-5)
3. J.C. Aragone/Collin Altamirano d. Andrew Gores/Ronnie Schneider (UNC), 6-0

Singles
Order of match finish: (5,4,6,1,3,2)
1. #46 Brayden Schnur (UNC) d. #8 Ryan Shane (VA), 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #63 Collin Altamirano (VA) d. #23 Ronnie Schneider (UNC), 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
3. #7 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski (VA) d. #37 Brett Clark (UNC), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
4. Henrik Wiersholm (VA) d. #95 Jack Murray (UNC), 6-2, 6-3
5. #82 Robert Kelly (UNC) d. #88 J.C. Aragone (VA), 6-2, 6-3
6. Anu Kodali (UNC) d. #124 Mac Styslinger (VA), 6-4, 6-4

Records: North Carolina 21-1 (6-1 ACC), Virginia 16-3 (6-1 ACC)

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University of North Carolina Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Brett Clark

Andrew Gores

Robert Kelly

Anu Kodali

Jack Murray

Ronnie Schneider

Brayden Schnur

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