North Carolina
Illinois
Tar Heels Take Down #15 Illini In ITA Kickoff Event
January 29, 2012 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 29, 2012
ATLANTA, GA. - Freshman Oystein Steiro and junior William Parker rallied from one-set deficits at #5 and #6 singles Sunday to lift 18th-ranked North Carolina men's tennis team to a 4-2 victory over 15th-ranked Illinois at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on the Georgia Tech campus.
Carolina now advances to the championship match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend and will face #20 Auburn Monday at 1 p.m. after the Tigers' 4-1 win Sunday over host Georgia Tech. The winner of Monday's match advances to the 2012 ITA Indoor National Championship at Charlottesville, Va., February 17-20.
The match took four hours and two minutes to play as Carolina avenged a 4-1 loss to Illinois in last year's NCAA Tournament second round match in Champaign, Ill.
Playing its third match against a Top 25 team in eight days, the Tar Heels gained the upper hand against the Fighting Illini by capturing the doubles point. Senior Joey Burkhardt and freshman Esben Hess Olesen improved to 3-0 in doubles action at the No. 2 spot, posting their third straight 8-2 win by whipping Tim Kopinski and Ross Guignon. Carolina then clinched the team point as senior Brennan Boyajain and Steiro won at the #1 singles spot, persevering for an 8-6 win over Illinois' Dennis Nevolo and Farris Gosea. The #3 doubles match was even at seven games each when it was abandoned to move on to singles play.
Esben Hess Olesen continued his stellar play, moving to 3-0 on the season at the #3 singles spot. He downed Bruno Abdelnour 6-2, 6-2 to give the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead. It didn't take long for the Fighting Illini to even the match. Tim Kopinski defeated Burkhardt in straight sets at #4 singles and nationally second-ranked Dennis Nevolo followed with a 6-4, 6-1 over Carolina's Jose Hernandez at the top spot in the lineup.
Attention then turned to the other three courts. UNC's Brennan Boyajian had won the first set at #2 but Illinois had first set wins at the other two spots in the lineup. Eventually all three matches went to three sets.
Steiro got the Tar Heels back on top 3-2 as he rallied to win 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 at #5 singles over Farris Gosea. Oystein captured the second set tiebreaker 8-6 and was down 4-3 in the third set before rallying for his first career dual match win.
Attention turned to #6 singles where William Parker would provide the clinching point for UNC. Parker seemed to specialize in these kinds of wins a season ago as he provided the fourth point in multiple dual matches. He did so again Sunday in come-from-behind fashion. Playing against Guignon, Parker lost the first set 7-5, captured the second 6-3 and then dominated the third set 6-1.
Boyajian and 24th-ranked Roy Kalmanovich were headed to a third set tiebreaker at #2 singles when that match was suspended.
#18 North Carolina 4, #15 Illinois 2
Doubles (Team Winning Majority Of Matches Earns One Team Point)
Order of match finish: 1, 2
1. Brennan Boyajian and Oystein Steiro (UNC) d. Dennis Nevolo and Farris Gosea (UI) 8-6
2. Joey Burkhardt and Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) d. Tim Kopinski and Ross Guignon (UI) 8-2
3. Jose Hernandez and Zach Hunter (UNC) v. Bruno Abdelnour and Roy Kalmanovich (UI) 7-7, suspended
Singles (One Team Point Per Singles Match)
Order of match finish: 3, 1, 4, 5, 6
1. #2 Dennis Nevolo (UI) d. #30 Jose Hernandez (UNC) 6-4, 6-1
2. Brennan Boyajian (UNC) v. #24 Roy Kalmanovich (UI) 6-3, 3-6, 6-6, suspended
3. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) v. Stephen Hoh (UI) 6-2, 6-2
4. Bruno Abdelnour (UI) d. Joey Burkhardt (UNC) 6-3, 7-5
5. Oystein Steiro (UNC) v. Tim Kopinski (UI), 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
6. #103 William Parker (UNC) d. Farris Gosea (UI), 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
Records: North Carolina 2-1, Illinois 3-1
Players Mentioned
