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Florida State
Florida State Edges Carolina In Men's Tennis, 4-3
March 6, 2005 | Men's Tennis
March 6, 2005
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina dropped saw its eight-match winning streak in men's tennis ended Sunday afternoon in its first outdoor match of the season as the Tar Heels fell to No. 30 Florida State 4-3 at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The 24th-ranked Tar Heels are now 10-3 on the campaign and 1-1 in the ACC, while the Seminoles improved to 7-4 overall and 1-1 in the ACC.
The doubles point proved to be decisive in the match as the two teams split the six singles matches. At the No. 2 spot, FSU's No. 57-rated team of Jeff Groslimond and Chris Westerhof scored a clear 8-3 win over UNC's David Stone and Sebastian Guejman. At No. 1 doubles, UNC's No. 17-ranked duo of Geoff Boyd and Brad Pomeroy scored an 8-6 victory over the 29th-ranked Florida State tandem of Ytai Abougzir and Mat Cloer. The point was decided at No. 3, where Florida State's team of Sam Chang and Jonathas Sucupira made a tremendous comeback from being down 7-4 to win the match 9-8, including a tiebreaker score of 8-6 over UNC's Raian Luchici and Jonathan Janda.
Having lost the doubles point, UNC knew it needed to win four of six singles matches to rally for the win. The Tar Heels almost pulled it off but fell just short.
At No. 6 singles, UNC tied the score at 1-1 as Sebastian Guejman defeated FSU's Sam Chang in straight sets. But at that point in the match, the Seminoles showed their mettle and they clinched the victory by notching the next three points decided in the match. First, Ytai Abougzir won over Geoff Boyd at No. 3 in straight sets, followed by Jeff Groslimond, ranked 88th nationally, outlasting Carolina's Brad Pomeroy at the No. 2 single spot. FSU then clinched the match to go ahead 4-1 as Chris Westerhof won a three-set match over the Tar Heels' Derek Porter.
Carolina made the final score more respectable by winning the final two points of the match. Benjamin Carlotti earned the victory at No. 5 over the Seminoles' Jonathas Sucupira in a three-setter. The final match off the court was at No. 1 singles where UNC junior Raian Luchici pulled off an upset victory over 17th-ranked Mat Cloer, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, by a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4) score.
Coach Sam Paul's team will have a full week of rest before it has its first chance to get the bad taste of this loss behind it. UNC embarks on a spring break trip which will include a match at Clemson next Sunday and then matches at Auburn on March 16 and at Alabama on March 18.
#30 FLORIDA STATE 4, #24 NORTH CAROLINA 3
Singles
#1 Raian Luchici (UNC) d. #17 Mat Cloer (FSU), 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5)
#2 #88 Jeff Groslimond (FSU) d. Brad Pomeroy (UNC), 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
#3 Ytai Abougzir (FSU) d. Geoff Boyd (UNC), 6-3, 6-4
#4 Chris Westerhof (FSU) d. Derek Porter (UNC), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
#5 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) d. Jonathas Sucupira (FSU), 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1
#6 Sebastian Guejman (UNC) d. Sam Chang (FSU), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: #6, #3, #2, #4, #5, #1
Doubles (Team winning majority of three matches earns one team point)
#1 #17 Geoff Boyd/Brad Pomeroy (UNC) d. #29 Mat Cloer/Ytai Abougzir (FSU), 8-6
#2 #57 Jeff Groslimond/Chris Westerhof (FSU) d. Sebastian Guejman/David Stone (UNC), 8-3
#3 Sam Chang/Jonathas Sucupira (FSU) d. Jonathan Janda/Raian Luchici (UNC), 9-8 (8-6)
Order of Finish: #1, #1, #3
Team Records: North Carolina 10-3 overall, 1-1 ACC; Florida State 7-4 overall, 1-1 ACC
Players Mentioned
