North Carolina
Georgia Tech
Tar Heels Take Thriller From Yellow Jackets 4-3
March 30, 2012 | Men's Tennis
March 30, 2012
Chapel Hill, N.C. - The No. 24 North Carolina men's tennis team rebounded from its first loss in ACC play by defeating the No. 62 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets by a score of 4-3 Friday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. After losing the doubles point, Jose Hernandez, Esben Hess-Olesen, William Parker, and Oystein Steiro claimed singles wins to improve the Tar Heels to 8-5 on the year and 5-1 in the ACC.
The struggles continued for the Tar Heels doubles' teams, as they dropped the opening point for the third consecutive match. In a matchup of top thirty teams on court one, No. 7 Kevin King and Juan Spir of Georgia Tech defeated Carolina's No. 29 duo of Hernandez and Joey Burkhardt by a score of 8-6.
The Tar Heels quickly countered with their own 8-6 win on court two, this time courtesy of Brennan Boyajian and Steiro. However, less than a minute later, the Jackets claimed the third 8-6 decision of the day on court three over the newly anointed doubles pair of Parker and Alex Rafiee, giving the overall point to Georgia Tech.
"You have to give Tech a lot of credit" said Carolina Head Coach Sam Paul. "We knew they were under-ranked coming in here. Their number one doubles team is ranked seven in the country. We won at two and then (lost) 8-6 at three, but we have a strong group of fighters."
In singles play, Parker and Hess-Olesen wasted no time in giving the Tar Heels the lead. Parker cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 win over Eduardo Segura on court five, while Hess-Olesen took his match 6-4, 6-0, dominating the second set on court three.
Steiro extended the Heels lead to 3-1 with a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win over Tech's Sebastian Lopez on court six. The two point lead was short-lived, though, as Yellow Jacket Juan Melian defeated Burkhardt 7-5, 6-2 on court four to pull Georgia Tech back to within a point.
That left courts one and two to decide the outcome, and both matches went three sets in doing so. Senior Brennan Boyajian battled back after losing a first set tiebreaker, but ultimately lost to Juan Spir 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-5, tying the overall score at three and leaving the two highest ranked players to determine the final score.
Tar Heel Jose Hernandez, ranked No. 34 in the nation was up to the task, handing No. 11 Kevin King only his third loss of the spring. Hernandez also dropped the first set, but came back to claim a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2 victory to secure the win for the Heels.
"That's the best match (Hernandez) has played all year," said Paul. "He's a great player. He's capable of beating anybody on any day. He's worked hard for it, so I'm very proud of him."
The Tar Heels are next in action at noon on Sunday taking on Clemson at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. It will be the final home tennis match for seniors Cameron Ahari, Brennan Boyajian, Joey Burkhardt, Zach Hunter and Alex Rafiee.
No. 24 North Carolina 4, No. 62 Georgia Tech 3
Doubles
1. #7 King/Spir (GT) def. #29 Burkhardt/Hernandez (UNC), 8-6
2. Boyajian/Steiro (UNC) def. Hundal/Lopez (GT), 8-6
3. Miljevic/Segura (GT) def. Parker/Rafiee (UNC), 8-6
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1. #34 Jose Hernandez (UNC) def. #11 Kevin King (GT), 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2
2. Juan Spir (GT) def. #90 Brennan Boyajian (UNC), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-5
3. #98 Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) def. Dusan Miljevic (GT), 6-4, 6-0
4. Juan Melian (GT), def. Joey Burkhardt (UNC), 7-5, 6-2
5. William Parker (UNC) def. Eduardo Segura (GT), 6-3, 6-1
6. Oystein Steiro (UNC) def Sebastian Lopez (GT), 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 3, 6, 4, 2, 1
Players Mentioned
