North Carolina
Clemson
No. 12 Tar Heels Edge No. 10 Clemson 4-3
March 25, 2006 | Men's Tennis
March 25, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The 12th-ranked University of North Carolina men's tennis team rallied after losing the doubles point to earn four singles victories and edge No. 10 Clemson 4-3 Saturday in a match held indoors at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels earned the victory in the final match of the day as senior Raian Luchici defeated Clemson's Sander Koning in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Down 3-0 in the third set, Luchici won six straight games to earn the victory for the Tar Heels. This is the second straight year that the match between the two teams has come down to Luchici's contest at No. 1 singles. With the win the Tar Heels improve to 16-1 overall and 1-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Clemson falls to 17-4 overall and 2-2 in the ACC.
"It's a great win," said North Carolina head coach Sam Paul. "It was a great college tennis match, and it could've gone either way. You've got to give Clemson credit. They always fight us hard.
"I'm really proud of Raian for coming up big there at the end. I'm really proud of all the guys. They fought really hard. I was pleased with our effort today."
The Tar Heels struggled early in the match, losing the doubles point after a pair of victories by the Tigers. Clemson's pairing of Ryan Young and Sander Koning defeated Lenny Gullan and David Stone, ranked 79th in the country, 8-4 at No. 2, before the Tigers' Jarmaine Jenkins and Clement Reix teamed to defeated Carolina's Raian Luchici and Brad Pomeroy at No. 1. Luchici and Pomeroy are ranked sixth in the country. Sebastian Guejman and Derek Porter scored the lone doubles win for the Tar Heels as they defeated Ian Keeler and Brett Twente 8-6 at No. 3.
Carolina rallied in singles play, taking the first two matches to move ahead 2-1. Senior Brad Pomeroy, an Asheville, N.C. native, was first off the court for the Tar Heels, defeating Jarmaine Jenkins 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 2 spot. Sebastian Guejman followed Pomeroy's victory with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Clemson's Clint Boling at No. 5.
The Tigers, however, were able to fight back and take the lead away from the Tar Heels after victories at the No. 6 and No. 3 spots. Will Plyler fell to Clemson's Brett Twente 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 only seconds before Derek Porter lost a three-set match to the Tigers' Clement Reix. Reix is ranked 97th in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
With Clemson leading 3-2, the Tar Heels needed to win the remaining two matches to earn the victory. Sophomore Benjamin Carlotti kept the Tar Heels in the match with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 come-from-behind victory over Ryan Young, ranked 117 in the nation, at No. 4.
After Carlotti's victory, the match hinged on the outcome of the contest between Carolina's Raian Luchici, ranked 10th, and Clemson's Sander Koning, ranked 89th, at No. 1 singles. Koning lead the match 6-4, 3-6, 2-0 when Luchici went down with a leg injury. After receiving treatment, Luchici lost the next game to fall behind 3-0. Facing a three-game deficit in the deciding set Luchici rallied, taking the final six games to secure the victory for the Tar Heels.
"Maybe [the break while receiving treatment] turned things around. I don't know," Luchici said. "The moment I won the first game it just helped me build up my confidence. I knew that [Carlotti] won and I liked the pressure."
With the win the Tar Heels are now 11-10 against Clemson since Sam Paul became coach at UNC. Ten of the 21 matches, including each of the last three, have been decided by 4-3 scores.
Carolina has little time to celebrate the victory as it gets ready to host No. 27 Georgia Tech Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The match will be held outdoors. Contests between the two schools have been highly competitive with the last six meetings being decided by 4-3 scores with the match outcome hinging on the result of the last match on the court.
No. 12 NORTH CAROLINA 4, No. 10 CLEMSON 3
Doubles (team winning the majority of doubles matches earns one point)
No. 1 Jarmaine Jenkins / Clement Reix (CU) d. #6 Raian Luchici / Brad Pomeroy (UNC) 8-6
No. 2 Ryan Young / Sander Koning (CU) d. #79 Lenny Gullan / David Stone (UNC) 8-4
No. 3 Sebastian Guejman / Derek Porter (UNC) d. Ian Keeler / Brett Twente (CU) 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
*Clemson wins doubles point
Singles
No. 1 #10 Raian Luchici (UNC) d. #89 Sander Koning (CU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3*
No. 2 Brad Pomeroy (UNC) d. Jarmaine Jenkins (CU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 #97 Clement Reix (CU) d. Derek Porter (UNC) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) d. #117 Ryan Young (CU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 Sebastian Guejman (UNC) d. Clint Boling (CU) 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Brett Twente (CU) d. Will Plyler (UNC) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 5, 6, 3, 4, 1*
*Clinched match
Updated Team Records: North Carolina 16-1, 1-1 ACC; Clemson 17-4, 2-2 ACC
Players Mentioned
