University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Illinois
No. 10 Carolina Earns 4-0 win over No. 7 Illinois
January 31, 2016 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The No. 10 North Carolina men's tennis team earned its first win of the season over a higher-ranked team Saturday night, beating No. 7 Illinois 4-0 at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Tar Heels improved to 5-0 with the victory over the Fighting Illini (4-1).
Junior Jack Murray's 6-0, 0-6, 6-1 victory at the No. 4 spot clinched the win for UNC, which also got singles wins from senior Brett Clark at No. 3 and sophomore Robert Kelly at No. 5.
The Tar Heels opened by claiming the doubles point, with Clark and Kelly, the nation's top ranked duo, winning 6-4 at No. 1. After Illinois won at No. 3, Murray and junior Brayden Schnur fought to a 7-6(5) victory at the No. 2 spot. As the only action going on in the building, the final double match became the focal point for the raucous crowd, which erupted into cheers when the Tar Heels claimed the tiebreaker.
In singles play, Kelly was the first to finish, closing out Pengxuan Jiang 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 5 spot. Clark wrapped his match against Aron Hiltzik up next, winning by the same score as his doubles partne. Less than five minutes later it was all over, with Murray –who was unable to see the scoreboard from his court and thus didn't know he was playing for the match – claiming the deciding point at No. 4.
The singles matches at No. 1 (Schnur vs. Jared Hiltzik), No. 2 (UNC's Ronnie Schneider vs. Aleks Vukic) and No. 6 (UNC's Anu Kodali vs. Asher Hirsch) went unfinished.
“I think we played better tonight than we did last weekend up top,” UNC coach Sam Paul said. “I think we're hitting the ball better. We knew coming in Illinois has got some really good personnel up top. Ronnie played better, Brayden played better. But we've got to be competitive in all six spots, and doubles. We learned a lot tonight. We'll have another great week of practice and we're looking forward to having Oklahoma here on Sunday.”
Carolina's most significant win of the young season came in front of a vocal crowd of approximately 350, including quite a few Tar Heel student-athletes as well as students and fans coming straight from the UNC men's basketball win over Boston College, which wrapped up just as the tennis match was beginning.
“It was a fun environment,” Paul said. “It's an exciting sport with so many momentum swings.”
Next up for the Tar Heels is another home match against a highly-ranked nonconference opponent. UNC hosts No. 2 Oklahoma on Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. There is no charge for admission to Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
#10 North Carolina 4, #7 Illinois 0
Doubles (Team Winning Majority Of Matches Earns One Team Point)
Order of match finish: (1,3,2)
1. Robert Kelly/Brett Clark (UNC) def. Jared Hiltzik/Alex Jesse (ILL), 6-4
2. Brayden Schnur/Jack Murray (UNC) def. Aleks Vukic/Aron Hiltzik (ILL), 7-6(3)
3. Julian Childers/Pengxuan Jiang (ILL) def. Ronnie Schneider/Blaine Boyden (UNC) , 6-3
Singles (One Team Point Per Singles Match)
Order of match finish: (4,5,1,3)
1. Brayden Schnur (UNC) vs. Jared Hiltzik (ILL), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 0-0 DNF
2. Ronnie Schneider (UNC) vs. Aleks Vukic (ILL), 2-6, 6-6 DNF
3. Brett Clark (UNC) def. Aron Hiltzik (ILL), 6-4, 6-3
4. Jack Murray (UNC) def. Julian Childers (ILL), 6-0, 0-6, 6-1
5. Robert Kelly (UNC) def. Pengxuan Jiang (ILL), 6-4, 6-3
6. Anu Kodali (UNC) vs. Asher Hirsch (ILL), 3-6, 3-5 DNF
Records: North Carolina 5-0, Illinois 4-1
Players Mentioned
