North Carolina
Virginia Tech
No. 5 Tar Heels Rebound With Win Over No. 38 Virginia Tech, 4-3
April 13, 2007 | Men's Tennis
April 13, 2007
LACKSBURG, Va. - The No. 5 North Carolina men's tennis team rebounded after its first loss of the season with a 4-3 win at No. 38 Virginia Tech Friday afternoon. The doubles point and singles wins from Benjamin Carlotti, Taylor Fogleman and Will Plyler pushed Carolina to a 21-1 overall record and 9-1 in the ACC. Meanwhile, the Hokies fell to 12-10 with the loss, 3-7 in conference play. The win marked the most ACC regular season victories in school history for the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels took a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point with victories from the two and three seeds. After Sebastian Guejman and Stefan Hardy secured the first doubles win at the two seed over Albert Larregola and Alexei Sergeev, Chris Kearney and Fogleman clinched the point at the three seed over Brandon Corace and Arvid Puranen. With all eyes looking at court three for the decision, Kearney and Fogleman found themselves two breaks down, 7-4, but the Hokies' hope of the doubles point quickly faded as the Tar Heels came back to tie it seven-all and win 9-7.
The Hokies swiftly took the lead with back-to-back wins at the two and three seeds. Freshman Hardy fell in straight-sets to Yoann Re at the three seed, while Kearney fell in three sets at the two seed. Sophomore Taylor Fogleman tied the match two-all as he downed Brandon Corace, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) at the five seed.
With the match tied, Hokie Pedro Garber defeated Tar Heel senior Guejman, 7-5, 6-1, at the two position. Garber's win gave Virginia Tech a 3-2 lead. Will Plyler tied the match again at three-all when he took the first set 7-5 from Ignaci Roca and took the second easily, 6-2.
The deciding point came down to court one where No. 46 North Carolina junior Carlotti, a native of Paris, France, was battling it out against Albert Larregola. The Tar Heel took the first set, 6-3, but Larregola grabbed the second, 3-6, to push the match into a deciding third set. With the third-set tied four-all, Carlotti fought off two break points and took the lead 5-4. Carlotti broke Larregola's serve to clinch the third-set, 6-4, and the match.
The Tar Heels end regular season action on Sunday when they face No. 3 Virginia. The match is slated for a 1 pm start in Charlottesville, Va.
No. 5 North Carolina 4, No. 38 Virginia Tech 3
Doubles:
1.No. 28 Delgado/Garber (VT) d. No. 48 Lenny Gullan/David Stone (UNC) 8-6
2. Sebastian Guejman/Stefan Hardy (UNC) d. Larregola/Sergeev (VT) 8-6
3. Taylor Fogleman/Chris Kearney (UNC) d. Corace/Puranen (VT) 9-7 *
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles:
1.No. 46 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) d. Albert Larregola (VT) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 *
2. Nicholas Delgado (VT) d. No. 121 Chris Kearney (UNC) 6-2, 0-6, 6-1
3. Yoann Re (VT) d. Stefan Hardy (UNC) 6-2, 6-2
4. Pedro Garber (VT) d. Sebastian Guejman (UNC) 7-5, 6-1
5. Taylor Fogleman (UNC) d. Brandon Corace (VT) 6-1, 7-6 (2)
6. Will Plyler (UNC) d. Ignaci Roca (VT) 7-5, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 5, 4, 6, 1
*Clinched the match
Players Mentioned
