North Carolina
South Carolina
Tar Heel Men's Netters Whip Gameocks In Key Regional Matchup
February 10, 2005 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 10, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina (5-2) won its biggest men's tennis match of the young season Thursday afternoon at the Tar Heels, ranked No. 30 nationally, downed No. 41 South Carolina 5-2 in an indoor match at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on the University of North Carolina campus. The victory is Carolina's third in a row and the Tar Heels handed the Gamecocks' their first loss of the campaign.
The Tar Heels earned the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead in the match based on tight victories at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Both Brad Pomeroy at No. 1 doubles and David Stone at No. 2 doubles held serve to capture 8-6 wins for UNC. Pomeroy teamed with Geoff Boyd at No. 1 to down Tom Eklund and Ben Atkinson. Pomeroy and Boyd are currently ranked No. 9 in the country and they ran their doubles record to 16-3 with the win. Stone combined with Sebastian Guejman to beat Dmitry Babenko and Pedro Rodrigues of the Gamecocks at No. 2 by the same 8-6 score.
North Carolina increased its lead to 2-0 as junior Derek Porter (Coral Springs, Fla.) dominated his match at the No. 5 singles position, blanking USC sophomore Dmitry Babenko, 6-0, 6-0. UNC went on to take a solid 3-0 lead as junior Sebastian Guejman (Buenos Aires, Argentina) scored a straight set victory over Gamecock senior Ben Atkinson at the No. 6 flight by a 6-2, 6-2 count.
North Carolina junior Raian Luchici (Timisoara, Romania) clinched the match for Coach Sam Paul's Tar Heels as he tallied a straight set win over USC junior Tom Eklund at the top singles flight by a 6-3, 6-4 count.
The Gameocks (4-1) bounced to earn their first point as Jaime Cuellar prevailed in a battle of freshmen at the No. 4 flight over UNC's Benjamin Carlotti. Cuellar's winning score was 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
Carolina extended its lead to 5-1 as Tar Heel junior Brad Pomeroy scored a come-from-behind win over South Carolina sophomore Geraldo Knorr. Knorr won the first set 6-2 but Pomeroy won the second set in a 7-1 tiebreaker and then went on to win 6-2 in the third set. The Gamecocks earned the final point when freshman Pedro Rodrigues outlasted UNC senior Geoff Boyd at the No. 2 singles position 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
UNC's win gives the Tar Heels a 7-5 series lead since Sam Paul became the UNC head coach in 1993-94. The Tar Heels will host the Purdue Boilermakers in the team's next match on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. South Carolina will play host to Elon on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Columbia, S.C.
#30 NORTH CAROLINA 5, #41 SOUTH CAROLINA 2
Singles
No. 1 - #66 Raian Luchici (UNC) def.Tom Eklund (USC), 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 - #110 Pedro Rodrigues (USC) def. Geoff Boyd (UNC), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 - Brad Pomeroy (UNC) def. Geraldo Knorr (USC), 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2
No. 4 - Jamie Cuellar (USC) def. Benjamin Carlotti (UNC), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
No. 5 - Derek Porter (UNC) def. Dmitry Babenko (USC), 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 - Sebastian Guejman (UNC) def. Ben Atkinson (USC), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: #5, #6, #1, #4, #3, #2
Doubles (Team winning majority of three matches earns one team point)
No. 1 - #9 Geoff Boyd / Brad Pomeroy (UNC) def. Ben Atkinson / Tom Eklund (USC), 8-6
No. 2 - David Stone / Sebastian Guejman (UNC) def. Dmitry Babenko / Pedro Rodrigues (USC), 8-6
No. 3 - Jamie Cuellar /Geraldo Knorr (USC) / def. Jonathan Janda / Raian Luchici (UNC), 8-4
Order of Finish: #3, #1, #2
Team Records: North Carolina 5-2, South Carolina 4-1
Players Mentioned
