North Carolina
Virginia Tech
UNC Rolls to 5-2 Victory Over #32 Virginia Tech
April 6, 2008 | Men's Tennis
April 6, 2008
Chapel Hill, NC - The tenth-ranked UNC Tar Heels defeated the 32nd-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies on a chilly Sunday afternoon to improve to 6-1 in ACC play and 16-4 overall. The Tar Heels, who were coming off their first loss in 12 matches to top-ranked Virginia, played an efficient match in securing a 5-2 victory in which they won the first five points decided, and including individual doubles matches, the first seven matches decided.
The Tar Heels jumped out to an early lead by sweeping the Hokies in doubles, led by the nation's 42nd-ranked team of Stefan Hardy and Clay Donato. Hardy and Donato's 8-1 win improved their record to 13-4 in the fall and spring campaigns, and 6-1 in ACC play. The team point was clinched by an 8-5 win by tenth-ranked Taylor Fogleman and Chris Kearney at the first spot. However, the Tar Heels didn't stop there, as seniors David Stone and Tristan Heinrich mounted a comeback from a 1-5 deficit to put the finishing touches on the sweep with an 8-6 win.
Singles was more of the same for UNC following the doubles sweep. Head Coach Sam Paul's last minute lineup switch of Donato and Kearney proved to be effective, as Kearney led off singles play with a 6-1, 6-2 win and Donato won his match 6-0, 7-5 to clinch the fourth singles point and the team match for the Tar Heels. Sandwiched in between those victories was Fogleman's 6-1, 6-2 win, which provided the third team point for North Carolina. With the Tar Heels up 4-0 and the match decided, Will Plyler added a 6-2, 7-5 win to deliver a fifth and final team point to UNC.
North Carolina has another busy week ahead, as the Wednesday-Friday-Sunday weekly match slate will begin on April 9th in an away match against Duke. The contest with the Blue Devils, who are ranked 41st in the nation, will begin at 3:30 PM ET.
#10 North Carolina 5, #32 Virginia Tech 2
Records: UNC 16-4 (6-1), Virginia Tech 12-6 (5-4)
Doubles
#1 Fogleman/Kearney [#10] (UNC) d. Larregola/Corace (VT) 8-5
#2 Hardy/Donato [#42] (UNC) d. Delgado/Graber (VT) 8-1
#3 David Stone/Tristan Heinrich (UNC) d. Jacques/Re (VT) 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
#1 Albert Larregola [#40] (VT) d. Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) 5-7, 6-2, 1-0(7)
#2 Nicholas Delgado (VT) d. Stefan Hardy [#73] (UNC) 6-1, 5-7, 1-0(6)
#3 Chris Kearney [#83] (UNC) d. Yoann Re (VT) 6-1, 6-2
#4 Clay Donato (UNC) d. Pedro Graber (VT) 6-0, 7-5
#5 Taylor Fogleman (UNC) d. Sebastien Jacques (VT) 6-1, 6-2
#6 Will Plyler (UNC) d. Brandon Corace (VT) 6-2, 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 5, 4, 6, 2, 1
Players Mentioned
