North Carolina
Virginia Commonwealth
Carolina Continues Winning Streak With Win Over VCU 4-3
March 31, 2005 | Men's Tennis
March 31, 2005
RICHMOND, VA. - North Carolina's men's tennis team won its third successive match Thursday afternoon, defeating Virginia Commonwealth 4-3 at the Thalhimer Tennis Center. The loss was only the 14th at home for VCU in head coach Paul Kostin's 15 years as the head coach for the Rams.
Carolina, ranked 49th, improved to 13-5 overall with the victory. It was UNC's third successive win by a 4-3 score and five of UNC's last six matches have been decided by that razor-thin score. UNC senior Jeff Boyd provided the winning point for Tar Heels at the No. 3 singles spot as he defeated Francesc Lleal of the Rams 6-7, 6-4, 4-1, retired. Lleal retired because of severe cramping.
UNC pushed ahead in the match by grabbing the doubles point, which has been the key to UNC's success this year. Carolina is 13-0 when winning the doubles point and 0-5 when losing it. After UNC lost at the No. 3 doubles spot, Boyd combined with Brad Pomeroy to win at the No. 1 spot 8-3 over VCU's Arnaud Lecloerec and Daniel Lohff. Carolina then earned the doubles point when Jonathan Janda and Raian Luchici edged Marton Ott and Sebastian Ripoll 8-6 at the No. 2 spot.
At No. 5 singles, Benjamin Carlotti captured a 6-0, 1-2, retired victory over Ripoll to increase Carolina's lead to 2-0. After Carlotti dominated the opening set, Ripoll sprained his ankle in the fourth game of the second set and was unable to continue. Carlotti improved to 24-5 in singles on the season, including a perfect 10-0 at the No. 5 spot.
VCU pulled within 2-1 when Arnaud Lecloerec, ranked No. 11 in the nation in singles, downed UNC's Raian Luchici 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 1 spot. The Rams then tied the match with a win at No. 6 singles with Damien Lacombe besting Sebastian Guejman 6-3, 6-3.
Carolina pulled back ahead as junior Derek Porter scored his second straight key dual match victory as he beat Sergi Arumi, ranked 85th nationally, at the No. 4 spot by a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 score. VCU retied the score at 3-3 with a win at No. 2 singles as Marton Ott defeated Carolina's Brad Pomeroy, 6-4, 6-4.
The match was then decided at the No. 3 spot as it was the only singles encounter to go to a third set. After Francesc Lleal defeated UNC's Boyd 7-6 in the opening set in a 10-8 tiebreaker, the Tar Heel senior rebounded to win the second set 6-4 and then went on to capture the match for his 16th singles win of the season.
VCU dropped to 10-8 overall with the loss to the Tar Heels. UNC will next be in action against No. 41 Virginia Tech on Saturday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center at 2 p.m. It will be UNC's first match at home since April 6. Virginia Tech is 13-4 overall and 4-1 in the ACC. The Tar Heels are 3-2 in the conference heading into Saturday's match.
#49 NORTH CAROLINA 4, #35 VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 3
DOUBLES (worth 1 team point to team winning majority of matches)
1. No. 33 Brad Pomeroy/Geoff Boyd (UNC) def. Arnaud Lecloerec/Daniel Lohff (VCU), 8-3
2. Jonathan Janda/Raian Luchici (UNC) def. Sebastian Ripoll/Marton Ott (VCU), 8-6
3. Francesc Lleal/Sergi Arumi (VCU) def. Aly Mandour/Sebastian Guejman (UNC), 8-0
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1. No. 11 Arnaud Lecloerec (VCU) def. Raian Luchici (UNC), 6-3, 6-4
2. Marton Ott (VCU) def. Brad Pomeroy (UNC), 6-4, 6-4
3. Geoff Boyd (UNC) def. Francesc Lleal (VCU), 6-7 (8), 6-4, 4-1, retired injury
4. Derek Porter (UNC) def. No. 85 Sergi Arumi (VCU), 7-6 (6) 6-3
5. Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) def. Sebastian Ripoll (VCU), 6-0, 1-2, retired injury
6. Damien Lacombe (VCU) def. Sebastian Guejman (UNC), 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 6, 4, 2, 3
Records: North Carolina 13-5, Virginia Commonwealth 10-8
Players Mentioned
