University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
California
UNC Digs Deep To Beat California
February 1, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 1, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 19 North Carolina dug deep to defeat No. 25 California 4-3 in the final match Sunday evening in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's National Team Indoors Qualifying Regional at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
The doubles team of Brennan Boyajian and Alex Rafiee defeated their opponents at the No. 3 position 8-5, however the No. 5-ranked doubles team of Clay Donato and Taylor Fogleman and Andrew Crone and Zach Hunter were not successful at positions No. 1 and 2, respectively.
With the doubles point being awarded to California, the UNC team knew it was going to have to work hard to secure the win, and that it did.
Donato, ranked No. 73 in singles, beat his opponent, Kallim Stewart, ranked No. 49, 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 1 position and was the first to leave the court. No. 59 Taylor Fogleman came from behind to beat Pedro Zerbini 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 2 position while Andrew Crone defeated Nick Andrews 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 3 position.
Luke Mojica and Kyle Baker both lost hard-fought battles at the bottom of the singles lineup, leaving only one point left to be determined.
With the score tied at 3-3, all eyes were on Brennan Boyajian as he won six straight games after being down 0-2 in the final set, clinching the match after being on the court for hours hours and three minutes. With the 3rd set knotted at 2-2, Boyajian and Cal's Jonathan Dahan played through a marathon game of 10 deuce points. Dahan double faulted on Boyajian's fifth break point. It was a remarkable comeback for the Tar Heel who fell behind 0-6, 0-1 before rallying to win 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.
This ITA Indoor Regional was one of the toughest in the country with three of the four teams ranked in the nation's top 25.
Earlier in the day No. 14 Michigan defeated No. 38 VCU 5-1 to move on to the National Team Indoors in Chicago later this month.
The Tar Heels' next match is Friday, Feb. 6th against top-ranked Ohio State at 3 p.m. in the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
#19 UNC 4, #25 California, 3
Records: UNC (5-1), California (2-2)
Doubles
Order of match finish: #1, #3, #2
- Chizevar/ P. Zerbini [#16] (CAL) d. C. Donato/T. Fogleman [#5] (UNC) 8-6
- N. Andrews/ K. Stewart (CAL) d. A. Crone/Z. Hunter (UNC) 8-5
- B. Boyajian/A. Rafiee (UNC) d. J. Dahan/ B. Katsarov (CAL) 8-5
Singles
Order of match finish: #1, #5, #3, #6, #4*
- Clay Donato [#73] (UNC) d. Kallim Stewart [#49] (CAL) 6-3, 6-1
- Taylor Fogleman [#59] (UNC) d. Pedro Zerbini (CAL) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
- Andrew Crone (UNC) d. Nick Andrews (CAL) 6-3, 6-4
- Brennan Boyajian (UNC) d. Jonathan Dahan (CAL) 0-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Eoin Heavey (CAL) d. Luke Mojica (UNC) 6-4, 6-4
- Bozhidar Katsarov (CAL) d. Kyle Baker (UNC) 6-3, 6-3
#14 Michigan 5, #38 VCU 1
Records: Michigan (4-0), VCU (7-2)
Doubles
Order of match finish: #3, #1
- B.Bouhana/E.Lindgren (VCU) d. J. Jung/M. Sroczynski [#8] (UM) 8-6
- A. Mazlin/G. Navas (UM) d. T. Charron/B. Delemark (VCU) 7-5
- M. Schulhauser/N. Vinel (VCU) d. D. Daniel/C. Madden (UM) 8-2
Singles
Order of match finish: #4, #3, #6*, #1,
- Jason Jung (UM) d. Martin Schulhauser (VCU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
- Mike Sroczynski (UM) v. Thibault Charron (VCU) 7-5, 4-6, 2-1(DNF)
- Andrew Mazlin (UM) d. Benjamin Bouhana (VCU) 7-5, 6-4
- Peter Aarts (UM) d. Emil Lindgren (VCU) 7-5, 6-1
- Chris Madden (UM) d. Nicolas Vinel (VCU) 6-2, 7-6(0)
- Drew Daniel (UM) d. Bobo Delemark (VCU) 7-6, 6-4
Players Mentioned
