Men's Tennis Blanks Elon, 7-0

Thursday, February 8

Chapel Hill

4 PM

North Carolina

Elon

Karl Poling

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 8, 2024 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Freshman Patrick Schoen won the clinching singles match as 25th-ranked North Carolina dominated Elon, 7-0, on Thursday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Indoor Courts at the Chewning Tennis Center.

The Tar Heels won two of three doubles matches and swept all six in singles. Carolina improved to 4-3 this season and bounced back from last Saturday's 4-2 loss at Illinois.

The Phoenix, playing for the first time since January 20, fell to 0-3.

UNC earned wins at No. 1 doubles by Benjamin Kittay and Phillip Jordan and No. 2 by Will Jansen and Karl Poling. Tar Heel singles wins came from Jordan (at No. 4), Will Peters (No. 6), Schoen (No. 5), Poling (No. 3), Jansen (No. 1) and Kittay (No. 2), in that order.

How It Happened
Doubles
• The Tar Heels picked up a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point. Jansen and Poling cruised to a 6-0 shutout at No. 2 in under 20 minutes.
• The Phoenix won at No. 3 doubles when Ben Zipay and Juan Sengariz downed Peter Murphy and Schoen, 6-3.
• Kittay and Jordan clinched the team point with a 6-2 at No. 1 doubles. They fell behind early, 2-1, but broke serve twice and won five consecutive games for the victory.

Singles
• The Tar Heels won the first set in five of six singles matches, losing only at No. 1 (Jansen).
• Jordan dominated in a straight-set win at No. 4 singles for a 2-0 UNC advantage. He beat Sengariz, 6-1, 6-4.
• Minutes later, Peters, ranked #110 in the nation in this week's ITA singles rankings, beat Jack Curtis by a 6-1, 6-4 score to make it 3-0 Tar Heels.
• Schoen clinched the match for Carolina with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 5 over Dylan Heap, making the score 4-0.
• Poling put the Tar Heels ahead 5-0 with a 6-2, 7-6 (3) at No. 3 singles. Ranked #75 nationally this week, he trailed, 5-3, in the second set before breaking to make it 4-5. Poling won four of the final five games in the second, including a 7-3 tiebreak win in the final game to clinch the match.
• Jansen dropped his first set to Veliko Kristic before roaring back to win the second, 6-3. He blitzed Kristic, 6-0, in the third and final frame.
• Kittay beat Daniel Martin in three set at No. 2 singles in the final outcome of the evening, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6). He outlasted Martin, 8-6, in a tiebreaker to win the third set.

Notes & Tidbits
• Schoen, a freshman from Switzerland, won his second consecutive singles match after also winning at Illinois last weekend.
• Peters improved to 18-8 in singles play this season. He leads UNC in victories.
• Poling upped his career record to 101-38 and picked up his first singles win of the spring.
• Jansen jumped into the ITA singles rankings for the first time this week at #94. Kittay did the same at #60.
• Thursday's match kicked off a seven-match homestand for the Tar Heels that includes the final three non-conference matches of 2024, as well as four home Atlantic Coast Conference matches on the first two weekends in March.

Up Next
• Carolina will return to action on Sunday February 11 at 1 p.m. against 24th-ranked Georgia in Chapel Hill.

Follow Carolina Tennis
Keep up with all the latest Tar Heel tennis news by following @carolinatennis on X and @tarheeltennis on Instagram.

Elon vs North Carolina 2/8/2024 at Chapel Hill, N.C. (Chewning Tennis Center)
#25 North Carolina 7, Elon 0
Singles competition

1. #94 Will Jansen (NC) def. Veljko Krstic (ELON) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
2. #60 Benjamin Kittay (NC) def. Daniel Martin (ELON) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6)
3. #75 Karl Poling (NC) def. Oskar Antinheimo (ELON) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
4. Phillip Jordan (NC) def. Juan Sengariz (ELON) 6-1, 6-4
5. Patrick Schoen (NC) def. Dylan Heap (ELON) 6-2, 6-3
6. #110 Will Peters (NC) def. Jack Curtis (ELON) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Benjamin Kittay/Phillip Jordan (NC) def. Dylan Heap/Daniel Martin (ELON) 6-2
2. Will Jansen/Karl Poling (NC) def. Oskar Antinheimo/Jack Curtis (ELON) 6-0
3. Ben Zipay/Juan Sengariz (ELON) def. Peter Murphy/Patrick Schoen (NC) 6-3

Match Notes:
Elon 0-3
North Carolina 4-3; National ranking #25
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,6,5,3,1,2) T-2:45 A-105