University of North Carolina Athletics
Five Tar Heel ITA All-Americas Lead The Nation As Blumberg Becomes An Eight-Time Honoree
April 28, 2020 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL—University of North Carolina men's tennis players earned five All-America honors on Tuesday from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association to tie as the highest figure of any program in the nation this spring.
Tar Heel senior William Blumberg picked up All-America honors in both singles and doubles, becoming only the third eight-time All-America in ITA history. He joins John-Patrick Smith (2008-11) of Tennessee and Rick Leach (1984-87) of USC as the only eight-time All-Americas in ITA history.
Joining Blumberg as 2020 ITA All-Americas are the doubles teams of Blumberg and Brian Cernoch and Simon Soendergaard and Mac Kiger.
"To have five All-Americas on one team is pretty incredible," UNC head coach Sam Paul said on Tuesday. "That's a testament to the talent and hard work those guys have put in along the way. It also demonstrates the great job our associate head coach, Tripp Phillips, has done working with those guys to develop their games in practice and behind the scenes.
"And if you think about it," Paul continued, "our season wasn't over yet. There is even more this team could've accomplished under different circumstances and if the season had been completed. Benjamin Sigouin and Rinky Hijikata both had real shots at being All-Americas as well. Our guys earned those honors in just 13 matches and essentially without an outdoor season."
Blumberg joins Freddie McNair (1970-71-72-73) as the only UNC players to earn All-America honors in four seasons.
"For William to be an eight-time All-America is just phenomenal, especially since he didn't compete in the fall and had to work his way up the rankings in just a few weeks," Paul said. "It shows why I've been saying he might be the best player in Carolina history."
Cernoch, Kiger and Soendergaard all earned All-America honors for the first time.
"I'm very happy for our doubles teams," Paul said. "Simon and Mac had a great year in 2019 in doubles, then put together a tremendous fall by advancing all the way to the semis of the ITA Fall Championships. And I'm so thrilled for Brian Cernoch, who is one of the hardest workers on our team. He and Will were getting better and better each match and were doing great things this spring."
UNC and Florida tied for the national lead with five All-Americas each, and the five All-America honors tied the 2016 team as the most in Carolina history. The Tar Heels are the only team in the Atlantic Coast Conference to have at least one ITA All-America in each of the last six seasons (2015-20).
The 2020 ITA Division I Men's All-Americas were named after a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty singles players and 10 doubles pairs earned the prestigious honors.
Men's Singles
Men's Doubles
Tar Heel senior William Blumberg picked up All-America honors in both singles and doubles, becoming only the third eight-time All-America in ITA history. He joins John-Patrick Smith (2008-11) of Tennessee and Rick Leach (1984-87) of USC as the only eight-time All-Americas in ITA history.
Joining Blumberg as 2020 ITA All-Americas are the doubles teams of Blumberg and Brian Cernoch and Simon Soendergaard and Mac Kiger.
"To have five All-Americas on one team is pretty incredible," UNC head coach Sam Paul said on Tuesday. "That's a testament to the talent and hard work those guys have put in along the way. It also demonstrates the great job our associate head coach, Tripp Phillips, has done working with those guys to develop their games in practice and behind the scenes.
"And if you think about it," Paul continued, "our season wasn't over yet. There is even more this team could've accomplished under different circumstances and if the season had been completed. Benjamin Sigouin and Rinky Hijikata both had real shots at being All-Americas as well. Our guys earned those honors in just 13 matches and essentially without an outdoor season."
UNC's five @ITA_Tennis All-America picks lead the nation as @willblumberg becomes just the third eight-time All-America in history!#GoHeels #TogetherWeWin 🐏🎾🏆https://t.co/5wFPm5A3yW pic.twitter.com/ZLdJ0jMtJt
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 28, 2020
Blumberg joins Freddie McNair (1970-71-72-73) as the only UNC players to earn All-America honors in four seasons.
"For William to be an eight-time All-America is just phenomenal, especially since he didn't compete in the fall and had to work his way up the rankings in just a few weeks," Paul said. "It shows why I've been saying he might be the best player in Carolina history."
"I'm extremely happy to learn that I received my seventh and eighth All-America selections," Blumberg said. "It has always been a dream of mine to be an All-America every year at UNC, and I am proud to have accomplished that. I want to give a special thanks to a few people! Coach, Tripp, Drew, and Jack I definitely couldn't have done this without you and I owe it all to you guys. Lastly, to my teammates and my family, I'm so grateful for your constant love and support! Let's go Heels!"
Cernoch, Kiger and Soendergaard all earned All-America honors for the first time.
"I'm very happy for our doubles teams," Paul said. "Simon and Mac had a great year in 2019 in doubles, then put together a tremendous fall by advancing all the way to the semis of the ITA Fall Championships. And I'm so thrilled for Brian Cernoch, who is one of the hardest workers on our team. He and Will were getting better and better each match and were doing great things this spring."
UNC and Florida tied for the national lead with five All-Americas each, and the five All-America honors tied the 2016 team as the most in Carolina history. The Tar Heels are the only team in the Atlantic Coast Conference to have at least one ITA All-America in each of the last six seasons (2015-20).
The 2020 ITA Division I Men's All-Americas were named after a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty singles players and 10 doubles pairs earned the prestigious honors.
William Blumberg on becoming just the third men's player in history to be an eight-time @ITA_Tennis All-America:https://t.co/5wFPm5A3yW#TogetherWeWin 🐏🎾 pic.twitter.com/7m2Fs2Rf6T
— UNC Men's Tennis (@carolinatennis) April 28, 2020
Men's Singles
- Sam Riffice, Florida
- Oliver Crawford, Florida
- Duarte Vale, Florida
- Trent Bryde, Georgia
- Philip Henning, Georgia
- Alex Brown, Illinois
- Andrew Fenty, Michigan
- William Blumberg, North Carolina
- Alexis Galarneau, NC State
- Richard Ciamarra, Notre Dame
- Cannon Kingsley, Ohio State
- John McNally, Ohio State
- Alexandre Rotsaert, Stanford
- Yuya Ito, Texas
- Christian Sigsgaard, Texas
- Valentin Vacherot, Texas A&M
- Hady Habib, Texas A&M
- Gabriel Decamps, UCF
- Keegan Smith, UCLA
- Daniel Cukierman, USC
Men's Doubles
- Jackie Tang & Jack Lin, Columbia
- Oliver Crawford & Sam Riffice, Florida
- Trent Bryde & Tyler Zink, Georgia
- Andrew Fenty & Mattias Siimar, Michigan
- Mac Kiger & Simon Soendergaard, North Carolina
- William Blumberg & Brian Cernoch, North Carolina
- Robert Cash & John McNally, Ohio State
- Matej Vocel & Dominik Kellovsky, Oklahoma State
- Tim Sandkaulen & Finn Reynolds, Ole Miss
- Riley Smith & Daniel Cukierman, USC
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Bill Belichick Coach's Corner - Episode 6 - October 15, 2025
Wednesday, October 15
MBB: Jarin Stevenson Intro Press Conference
Tuesday, October 14
Bill Belichick Pre-Cal Press Conference - October 13, 2025
Tuesday, October 14
Carolina Insider - Interview with Jarin Stevenson (Full Segment) - October 13, 2025
Monday, October 13