Men's Tennis Blanks Utah, 4-0, For Ninth Straight Sweet 16 Trip

Sunday, May 7

Chapel Hill

2 PM

North Carolina

Utah

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

Men's Tennis Blanks Utah, 4-0, For Ninth Straight Sweet 16 Trip

May 7, 2023 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Bracket Final Results Photo Gallery

by Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Brian Cernoch won the clincher in his final home match as 14th-ranked North Carolina (19-8) shutout 17th-ranked Utah (24-6), 4-0, in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Chewning Tennis Center.

With the victory, 16th-seeded Carolina advances to next weekend's NCAA Round of 16, a Super Regional match to be hosted by top-seeded Texas in Austin, Texas, on Saturday May 13 at 3 p.m. Central (4 p.m. ET in North Carolina). The Longhorns beat Pepperdine, 4-0, at home on Sunday.

Making their 27th NCAA appearance under 30th-year head coach Sam Paul, the Tar Heels have reached at least the Round of 16 in nine consecutive NCAA Championships.

"I was looking at the scoreboard as I was playing the match and saw there were a couple of third sets there, and [Will] Jansen was closing in on a second-set win," Cernoch said. "I was in a tiebreak, down in the breaker, and I knew it was coming down to me and that if I could win it right there it would clinch it. To play here on these new courts and finish out my career at home by winning the clincher, it's kind of a surreal moment…I took a selfie there at the end with the crowd. It's something I'll cherish forever."

"What a great win for us," Paul said afterward. "Utah has a great team, they're the Pac 12 champions, a first-class program. Their coaching staff is tremendous, and it was just a great college tennis match all the way through. We're fortunate to be moving on.

"I'm so proud of our guys, it was probably the best match we've played this year. I can't say enough about Brian Cernoch, what a story for him to win his last match in this facility as a fifth-year player. I'm so happy for him. Ryan Seggerman, he helped us clinch, too. Just a total team effort. Will Jansen has been there for us all year and wins the doubles point for us, and another freshman, Benjamin Kittay, was great in his singles match. Total, 100 percent, team-effort win. I'm just really happy for all of them."

The Tar Heels and Utes were meeting for the second time in history. In the first meeting, UNC beat Utah, 4-0, in the first round of the 2018 ITA Kickoff Weekend in Chapel Hill.

On Sunday the Tar Heels won the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. Casey Kania and Seggerman were serving and down 15-40 in the seventh game of their match at No. 1 doubles, then clawed back with three clutch points in a row to win and take a 4-3 lead over 49th-ranked Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac. A few minutes later, Kania and Seggerman posted the first break by either duo to take the win, 6-4.

Two courts away at No. 3 doubles, Karl Poling and Jansen trailed, 5-3, with Utah's Francisco Bastias and Bruno Caula serving for the match. Jansen and Poling broke the Utes' serve to stay alive and cut the lead to 5-4. The Tar Heel duo won the ensuing game to tie it at 5-all. In the next and deciding game, Poling served and Jansen hit a beautiful volley winner to the back corner of the court to clinch, 7-5.

Seggerman gave Carolina a 2-0 lead with the first singles win of the afternoon. The 96th-ranked Franco Capalbo broke the 58th-ranked Seggerman's serve to take a 4-2 lead in the first set, only to see the Tar Heel graduate student take two consecutive breaks of his own and win four games in a row to grab the first set, 6-4. In the second set, Seggerman broke Capalbo's serve to take a 4-3 lead and won by a 6-4 score again, giving the Tar Heels a 2-0 advantage.

Kittay led, 4-1, and went on to win his first set, 6-2, at No. 5 over Bugarikj. Kittay connected on a behind-the-back, reverse flick of a winner in the second-set tiebreaker to take a 6-2 lead and eventually won his match, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) to give the Tar Heels a 3-0 lead.

Shot of the day from Ben Kittay #SCTop10 the behind the back reverse flicker to set up match pt @NCAATennis 2nd Rd pic.twitter.com/j0QaMQsbNr
— Carolina Men's Tennis 🐏🎾 (@carolinatennis) May 7, 2023

Nine straight trips to the Sweet 16!#GoHeels #NCAATennis pic.twitter.com/Y2MUl04IfU
— Carolina Men's Tennis 🐏🎾 (@carolinatennis) May 7, 2023

Cernoch, ranked No. 43 nationally, won his first set against Utah's 38th-ranked Geronimo Busleiman by a 6-4 score, then clinched in a grueling, come-from-behind second-set tiebreaker for a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory.

Tennis Match Results
Utah vs North Carolina
5/7/2023 at Chapel Hill, N.C. (Chewning Tennis Center)
#14 North Carolina 4, #17 Utah 0

Singles competition
1. #43 Brian Cernoch (NC) def. #38 Busleiman, Geronimo (UTAH) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
2. #58 Ryan Seggerman (NC) def. #96 Capalbo, Franco (UTAH) 6-4, 6-4
3. Will Jansen (NC) vs. #108 Bastias, Francisco (UTAH) 4-6, 5-6, unfinished
4. Karl Poling (NC) vs. Caula, Bruno (UTAH) 6-0, 6-7 (6-8), 2-1, unfinished
5. Benjamin Kittay (NC) def. Bugarikj, Berk (UTAH) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
6. Logan Zapp (NC) vs. Trhac, Patrik (UTAH) 4-6, 6-1, 5-2, unfinished

Doubles competition
1. #9 Casey Kania/Ryan Seggerman (NC) def. #49 Bugarikj, Berk/Trhac, Patrik (UTAH) 6-4
2. #33 Brian Cernoch/Benjamin Kittay (NC) vs. Capalbo, Franco/Busleiman, Geronimo (UTAH) 5-5, unfinished
3. Will Jansen/Karl Poling (NC) def. Bastias, Francisco/Caula, Bruno (UTAH) 7-5

Match Notes:
Utah 24-6; National ranking #17
North Carolina 19-8; National ranking #14
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,5,1) NCAA Championship second round
UNC advances to Round of 16
T-2:34 A-438