University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Texas
No. 30 Tar Heels Stun No. 3 Texas 5-2
March 8, 2011 | Men's Tennis
March 8, 2011
AUSTIN, TEXAS-- The No. 30 North Carolina Tar Heels scored a massive road upset Tuesday evening, defeating the No. 3 Texas Longhorns 5-2 from the Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin. The victory was the Tar Heels' highest ranked road win since defeating #2 Georgia on April 2, 1994.
It was the first home loss for the Longhorns since April 2, 2009 when they fell to Baylor, snapping a 29-match success string at home for the Horns.
In his first match of the spring semester, junior transfer Joey Burkhardt did not disappoint. Before the Tar Heel debutante won his No. 4 singles match over Daniel Whitehead in convincing fashion, 6-3, 6-4, he and partner Stefan Hardy topped the No. 23 pairing in the nation at No. 2 doubles. Head coach Sam Paul said Burkhardt brings something the Tar Heels might have been missing: experience.
"In both singles and doubles, Joey's just a really experienced player, which is just what we need."
Unfortunately, their upset in doubles was to be the only Tar Heel win, as Texas struck first blood with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 flights.
In singles, Paul shuffled the lineup, inserting Burkhardt at four and moving Boyajian up to two and Hardy back to three.
The tactic paid off, but not before Boyajian fell at No. 2 to No. 88 Kellen Damico, giving the Longhorns a 2-nil advantage. Shortly after, the Tar Heels picked up the pace, scoring wins in quick succession at four, five and three to swing the momentum to their side.
Burkhardt, ranked 87th in the nation, spurred the revival with his win at No. 4, followed by William Parker's 6-4, 6-4 dismantling of David Holiner at No. 5. Hardy, ranked No. 121 by the ITA, topped No. 114 Vasko Mladenov 6-3, 7-5 at his more comfortable No. 3 flight.
Up 3-2, the Tar Heels still had their work cut out for them. Jose Hernandez, who is ranked #42 in the ITA, was locked in a one-set-all battle with No. 29 Ed Corrie at No. 1. Down at No. 6, Cameron Ahari was down a set but going deep in the second against Sudanwa Sitaram.
With the match on his racquet, Hernandez showed some of the class that saw him ranked preseason No. 30. After losing the first 7-5, Hernandez roared back to take the second, 6-2. He went up big in the third, at one point leading 5-2, and despite a late scare held on for the match-clinching victory, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
After the match was decided, Cameron Ahari fought back in the second set, winning in a tiebreaker. Ahari then took the super tiebreaker, 10-6, to give him the win and tack another onto a resounding Tar Heel team victory.
"Texas is a great team, and to lose the doubles point then fight back in singles, it was great," Paul said. "I'm just really proud of our guys today."
A win over a top-5 opponent means even more since Texas is the last nonconference match for UNC and comes shortly after another bid road win at Vanderbilt. The Tar Heels begin ACC play when they travel to Raleigh to face No. 55 N.C. State on March 18. Paul hopes a tough out-of-ACC schedule will help.
"We've gotten a lot better, win or lose, with the tough nonconference schedule we've played," Paul said. "Obviously with this match today and Vanderbilt last week, we've had our work cut out for us."
No. 30 North Carolina 5, No. 3 Texas 2
Records: UNC 5-4, Texas 11-2
Singles:
1. #42 Jose Hernandez (UNC) d. #29 Ed Corrie (Texas) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
2. #88 Kellen Damico (Texas) d. Brennan Boyajian (UNC) 6-3, 6-4
3. #121 Stefan Hardy (UNC) d. #114 Vasko Mladenov (Texas) 6-3, 5-7
4. #87 Joey Burkhardt (UNC) d. Daniel Whitehead (Texas) 6-3, 6-4
5. William Parker (UNC) d. David Holiner (Texas) 6-4, 6-4
6. Cameron Ahari (UNC) d. Sudanwa Sitaram (Texas) 5-7, 7-6(3), 10-6
Doubles:
1. #4 Andersen/Corrie (Texas) d. #14 Boyajian/Hernandez (UNC) 8-3
2. Burkhardt/Hardy (UNC) d. #23 Damico/Holiner (Texas) 8-5
3. Mladenov/Whitehead (Texas) d. Ahari/Zach Hunter (UNC) 8-5
Order of Finish:
Singles: 2, 4, 5, 3, 1, 6
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
Players Mentioned
