North Carolina
Miami
Carolina Men's Tennis Team Edges Miami 4-3
March 27, 2005 | Men's Tennis
March 27, 2005
CORAL GABLES, FLA. - North Carolina won a trio of crucial tiebreakers Sunday afternoon and staged several impressive rallies from deficits as the Tar Heels defeated Miami in men's tennis action 4-3. The win in a match played in 90 degree heat improved UNC to 12-5 overall on the season and 3-2 in the ACC. Four of UNC's five ACC matches this season have been decided by 4-3 scores, two wins and two losses.
Carolina won the doubles point when freshman Aly Mandour and sophomore Sebastian Guejman edged Josh Cohen and Ryan Waits of the Hurricanes at the No. 3 spot in a tiebreaker. Carolina and Miami had split the doubles matches at No. 1 and No. 2 so the No. 3 spot decided the team point. The match was tied at 8-8 and thus forced a tiebreaker which Mandour and Guejman won by a 7-3 score. The Tar Heel win at No. 2 doubles was also remarkable as Jonathan Janda and Raian Luchici was down 6-2 in the match including two breaks but the Tar Heel duo won six straight games to win the match 8-6.
UNC then was to win three of the six singles matches to earn the victory but it was not easy. Four of the six singles matches went to three sets and the two teams split those four matches. Miami also won the first set on five of the six singles courts so in two cases UNC players had to rally from a set down to earn their singles wins.
Carolina junior Derek Porter, playing in his home state, had UNC's only straight sets win, beating John Hoyes, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4. At No. 2 and No. 5, junior Brad Pomeroy and freshman Benjamin Carlotti both had to win gutwrenching tiebreakers to earn their victories. Pomeroy rallied past Tim Krebs at No. 2 by a 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 score. Pomeroy won the second set in an 8-6 tiebreaker. Pomeroy was facing elimination in the second set when Krebs, ranked 69th nationally, had two match points against him at 6-3, 5-3, 40-15. In the end, it was Pomeroy who had the clinching point in the match for North Carolina.
At No. 5, Carlotti lost the first set to Vivek Subramanian 5-7 but then rallied to win 6-4 in the second and then won the third 7-6, including 7-2 in the tiebreaker. Carlotti rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the third set to force the third set tiebreaker which he eventually won. Carlotti broke his opponent while trailing 5-4 in the third set to help stage his comeback.
Miami's wins came at No. 1 where Josh Cohen outlasted UNC's Raian Luchici 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 (7-5), at No. 3 where Eric Hechtman beat Carolina's Geoff Boyd by a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 score and at No. 6 where Ryan Waits downed Sebastian Guejman 6-3, 6-4.
The Tar Heels will next be in action against No. 33-ranked Virginia Commonwealth University on Thursday, March 31 at 3 p.m. in Richmond, Va.
#53 NORTH CAROLINA 4, MIAMI 3
Singles
1. Josh Cohen (UM) def. Raian Luchici (UNC), 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
2. Brad Pomeroy (UNC) def. Tim Krebs (UM), 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4
3. Eric Hechtman (UM) def. Geoff Boyd (UNC), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
4. Derek Porter (UNC) def. John Hoyes (UM), 6-2, 6-4
5. Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) def. Vivek Subramanian (UM), 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
6. Ryan Waits (UM) def. Sebastian Guejman (UNC), 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
1. Tim Krebs/Vivek Subramanian (UM) def. Brad Pomeroy/Geoff Boyd (UNC), 8-3
2. Raian Luchici/Jonathan Janda (UNC) def. Eric Hechtman/John Hoyes (UM), 8-6
3. Aly Mandour/Sebastian Guejman (UNC) def. Josh Cohen/Ryan Waits, 9-8 (3)
Team Records: UNC 12-5, ACC 3-2; Miami 9-7, ACC 0-5
Players Mentioned
