North Carolina
North Carolina State
No. 9 Tar Heels Rebound From Loss To Defeat No. 36 NC State 5-2
April 5, 2006 | Men's Tennis
April 5, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Fueled by straight-set victories by Derek Porter, Sebastian Guejman, Raian Luchici and Brad Pomeroy, the No. 9-ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heels defeated No. 36 NC State 5-2 Wednesday at a match held outdoors at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill. With the win the Tar Heels bounced back from a loss to Miami last Sunday and move to 19-2 overall and 4-2 in the Atlantic Cost Conference. NC State falls to 18-6 overall and 2-5 in the ACC.
"I'm certainly proud of my seniors," said Carolina head coach Sam Paul. "When you look at the seniors -- Brad, Raian and Derek -- those guys won in straight sets today.
"NC State's got the best team they've had in a long time and we knew they were going to fight us hard so fortunately we came out on top today."
The Tar Heels took an early 1-0 lead in match by taking two of the three doubles matches. Seniors Raian Luchici and Brad Pomeroy, the sixth-ranked doubles team in the country, earned the first doubles victory for Carolina at No. 1 as they took down the Wolfpack's pairing of Val Banada and Will Shaw 8-4. The Tar Heels' Lenny Gullan and David Stone followed suit, clinching the doubles point with an 8-4 victory over the pairing of William Noblitt and Ben Zink at No. 2.
In singles action, Carolina extended its lead quickly and clinched the match after three straight victories. Derek Porter scored first for the Tar Heels, defeating Andre Iriarte 6-1, 6-2 at No. 3. Sebastian Guejman was next off the court for Carolina at No. 5, defeating Will Shaw 6-3, 6-4. Raian Luchici, ranked 18th in the country, clinched the match for the Tar Heels at No. 1 with a 6-1, 6-3 over 46th-ranked Nick Cavaday.
The Wolfpack took the next two points in the match before Brad Pomeroy earned the final point for the Tar Heels, defeating Val Banada 6-4, 6-3.
There wasn't a doubt in my mind that we would come back and [win after the loss to Miami], Porter said. "Today we knew it was going to be tougher than usual because NC State's got a good program going for them.
"It was good to get off the court early, and when we did that it seemed like we won pretty quickly."
The Tar Heels will be on the road this weekend as they start a three-game road trip against ACC opponents. Carolina will take on Maryland on Friday and Boston College on Sunday before returning to North Carolina to face sixth-ranked Duke in Durham on April 12.
No. 9 North Carolina 5, No. 36 NC State 2
Doubles (pro sets, team winning at least two of three matches earns one team point)
No. 1 #6 Raian Luchici / Brad Pomeroy (UNC) d. Val Banada / Will Shaw (NCSU) 8-4
No. 2 Lenny Gullan / David Stone (UNC) d. William Noblitt / Ben Zink (NCSU) 8-4
No. 3 Nick Cavaday / Jay Weinacker (NCSU) d. Sebastian Guejman / Derek Porter (UNC) 8-4
*Carolina wins doubles point
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles (best of three sets)
No. 1 #18 Raian Luchici (UNC) d. #46 Nick Cavaday (NCSU) 6-1, 6-3*
No. 2 Brad Pomeroy (UNC) d. Val Banada (NCSU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 Derek Porter (UNC) d. Andre Iriarte (NSCU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 William Noblitt (NCSU) d. Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) 7-5, 7-5
No. 5 Sebastian Guejman (UNC) d. Will Shaw (NCSU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 Jay Weinaker (NCSU) d. Will Plyler 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 5, 1*, 6, 4, 2
*Clinched match
Records: North Carolina 19-2, ACC 4-2; NC State 18-6, 2-5 ACC
Players Mentioned
