Tar Heels Fall To No. 26 Louisville 5-2

Friday, March 20

Louisville, Ky.

3:30 PM

North Carolina

Louisville

March 20, 2015 | Men's Tennis

By: UNC Athletic Communications

LOUISVILLE, KY – The No. 10 North Carolina men's tennis team dropped its first ACC contest of the season on Friday evening, falling to No. 26 Louisville 5-2 at Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. With the loss, the Tar Heels fall to 14-6 (3-1 ACC), while the Cardinals improve to 15-4 (3-2 ACC).

Louisville edged out in front early by narrowly snagging the doubles point. On court three, Carolina's pair of junior Brett Clark and freshman Robert Kelly dismissed the Cardinals' duo of Chris Simich and Van Damrongsri 8-5, but Louisville's Jeffrey Brown and Alex Gornet responded on court one with an 8-5 triumph over UNC's senior duo of Esben Hess-Olesen and Oystein Steiro.

With the doubles point hanging in the balance, the Cardinal's team of Sebastian Stiefelmeyer and Albert Wagner stepped up and edged the Tar Heels' pair of Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider in a tiebreaker on court two, 8-7.

Louisville proceeded to tally three consecutive singles wins to wrap up its third ACC victory of the season.

In the first match to finish, Ronnie Schneider, ranked 24th nationally, fell to the Cardinals' top-ranked Sebastian Stiefelmeyer 6-3, 6-1 on court one. Jeffrey Brown added another singles win for Lousiville, topping Oystein Steiro 6-3, 6-4 on court six.

Albert Wagner, ranked 106th nationally, provided the clincher on court three with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Esben Hess-Olesen. The match marked Hess-Olesen's first singles action since retiring against Campbell on Feb. 4.

In the remaining matches, 57th-ranked Brett Clark dropped a tough bout to Alex Gornet in a 10-point super tiebreaker on court two and Robert Kelly, ranked 86th nationally, got the Tar Heels on the board on court five by topping Michael Lippens 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Jack Murray also went to a super tiebreaker but came out on the other side, registering a 6-1, 5-7, 1-0(8) victory over Chris Simich on court four.

Carolina will get a week off before returning to action on Friday with a visit to ninth-ranked Virginia. The match is scheduled for 3 p.m.

#26 Louisville 5, #10 North Carolina 2

Singles competition

1. #1 Seb Stiefelmeyer (LOU-MT) def. #25 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) 6-3, 6-1

2. Alex Gornet (LOU-MT) def. #57 Brett Clark (UNC) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-6)

3. #106 Albert Wagner (LOU-MT) def. Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) 6-4, 6-4

4. #115 Jack Murray (UNC) def. Chris Simich (LOU-MT) 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)

5. #86 Robert Kelly (UNC) def. Michael Lippens (LOU-MT) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3

6. Jeffrey Brown (LOU-MT) def. Oystein Steiro (UNC) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition

1. Alex Gornet/Jeffrey Brown (LOU-MT) def. #22 Oystein Steiro/Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) 8-5

2. Seb Stiefelmeyer/Albert Wagner (LOU-MT) def. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) 8-7