North Carolina
VCU
Carolina Claims Hard Fought Road Win At VCU 5-2
January 20, 2014 | Men's Tennis
RICHMOND, VA. - The North Carolina men's tennis team improved to 3-0 on the season by defeating 31st-ranked VCU 5-2 Monday afternoon at the Thalhimer Tennis Center. It was the first loss of the season for the Rams, who fell to 4-1.
Carolina won a pair of tiebreakers in doubles play to go up 1-0 and then won three of the first four singles matches off the court to clinch at 4-1. The two teams then split the final two singles matches on the court as the final ended up 5-2 in Carolina's favor.
"This is a great win for us early in our season on the road against a very good program," said UNC head coach Sam Paul. "I am very proud of our guys. Oystein Steiro and Nelson Vick set the tone by getting a key win in doubles play and then our freshmen Ronnie Schneider and Jack Murray clinched it at #3. We carried that momentum over into singles and ended up with a very good result."
The match was played under the new experimental NCAA rules for non-conference matches. The new rules feature no-ad scoring in both singles and doubles, tiebreakers played at 5-5 in singles sets and in all doubles matches. Doubles matches are now played to just six points (previously eight).
The doubles points was hard fought indeed with all three matches ending up in tiebreakers after they were knotted at 5-5 all. #50-ranked Oystein Steiro and Nelson Vick won at #2 doubles by 7-2 in the tiebreaker and the freshman tandem of Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider followed that up with a 7-4 tiebreaker win at #3 doubles.
Carolina built on its early lead when freshman Ronnie Schneider defeated Nick Jones 6-3, 6-4 at #2 singles for a 2-0 lead. VCU earned its first point when Alejandro Argente scored a straight set win over Oystein Steiro at #4 singles.
UNC's Brett Clark, ranked 36th, defeated Michal Voscek 6-3, 6-4 at #3 singles and then the Heels clinched the team decision as freshman Brayden Schnur downed #78 Alexis Heugas 6-4, 6-5 (7-4) at #1 singles. Schnur handed Heugas, a senior, his first ever home dual match loss.
With the team decision already clinched and only four courts available for play, the #6 singles match was put on the court as a single pro-set tiebreaker that Jack Murray won over Vuk Velickovic 8-2. VCU's Jean Baptiste Mateo and Carolina's Nelson Vick split sets at #5 singles. The duo played a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set with VCU prevailing 10-5.
UNC will meet Howard at 5 p.m. Monday in a neutral site match in Richmond. This coming weekend, UNC will compete in the ITA Kick-Off Event at Duke with Saturday semifinal matches featuring the Blue Devils versus Oregon and the Tar Heels facing San Diego State.
#43 North Carolina 5, #31 VCU 2
Doubles (Team Winning Majority Of Matches Earns One Team Point)
Order of match finish: (2,3, DNF)
Notes: Tiebreakers played at 5-5
1. Brett Clark and Brayden Schnur (UNC) vs. Alexis Heugas and Nick Jones (VCU), 5-5, Did Not Finish
2. #50 Oystein Steiro and Nelson Vick (UNC) d. Michal Voscek and Vuk Velickovic (VCU), 6-5 (7-2)
3. Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider (UNC) d. Jean Baptiste Mateo and Alejandro Argente (VCU), 6-5 (7-4)
Singles (One Team Point Per Singles Match)
Order of match finish: (2,4,3,1,6,5)
Notes: Tiebreakers played at 5-5; third sets played as 10-point pro-set if team decision has already been clinched
1. Brayden Schnur (UNC) d. #78 Alexis Heugas (VCU), 6-4, 6-5 (7-4)
2. #17 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) d. Nick Jones (VCU), 6-3, 6-4
3. #36 Brett Clark (UNC) d. Michal Voscek (VCU), 6-3, 6-4
4. Alejandro Argente (VCU) d. Oystein Steiro (UNC), 6-2, 6-4
5. Jean Baptiste Mateo (VCU) d. Nelson Vick (UNC), 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5)
6. Jack Murray (UNC) d. Vuk Velickovic (VCU), 8-2*
*No. 6 singles played as eight-game pro-set after UNC clinched match
Team Records: North Carolina (3-0), VCU (4-1)
Players Mentioned
