University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Wofford
Tar Heels Move To 11-0 With Win Over Wofford
February 21, 2016 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina men's tennis team improved to 11-0 Sunday with a 7-0 win over visiting Wofford. The top-ranked Tar Heels got strong performances from the entire lineup, which included seniors Stuart DePaolo and Andrew Gores. Wofford fell to 5-5 on the season with the loss.
Carolina opened by quickly claiming the doubles point with wins at No. 2 (juniors Jack Murray and Ronnie Schneider) and No. 3 (junior Brayden Schnur and Gores).
In singles, all of the wins came in straight sets, with Murray at No. 3 the first to finish. He beat Parks Thompson 6-1, 6-0 to make the score 2-0. DePaolo won 6-1, 6-0 in his second singles action of the spring to move UNC within a point of the win. Sophomore Robert Kelly then sealed it with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 4.
Even though Carolina had already locked up the win, the rest of the singles matches played out, with Schneider winning 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2, senior Brett Clark winning 7-5, 6-0 at No. 1, and freshman Blaine Boyden winning 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5.
It was UNC's first action in almost a week since playing on four consecutive days to win the ITA Indoor Team National Championship on Feb. 15.
“It's good to get back on the court,” Tar Heel coach Sam Paul said.
Next up for the Tar Heels is a mid-week homecourt matchup with UNCG, on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Including Sunday's win over Wofford, UNC plays a string of five consecutive non-conference home matches before opening Atlantic Coast Conference play on March 11 at Florida State. Paul expects his team to take each opponent very seriously, regardless of any titles the Tar Heels have won or accolades they've earned.
“We've only reached one of our goals,” Paul said, referencing the ITA Team Championship. “Now we have the ACC regular season, ACC Championship and NCAA Championship to work toward.
“We've got a lot more work to do and we're talking to our guys about that daily. Our ranking is nice right now but that's where we want to be at the end of the year. It's February 21st – we've got three more months in the season.”
Feb. 21, 2016
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center – Chapel Hill, N.C.
#1 North Carolina 7, Wofford 0
Doubles
Order of match finish: (2,3)
1. #3 Robert Kelly/Brett Clark (UNC) vs. H. Poric/Thompson (WOF), 5-2 DNF
2. Jack Murray/Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. Gotkowski/Sklar (WOF), 6-2
3. Andrew Gores/Brayden Schnur (UNC) def. A. Poric/Graham (WOF), 6-3
Singles
Order of match finish: (3,6,4,2,1,5)
1. #29 Brett Clark (UNC) def. Haris Poric (WOF), 7-5, 6-0
2. #23 Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. Alan Poric (WOF), 6-0, 6-2
3. #89 Jack Murray (UNC) def. Parks Thompson (WOF), 6-1, 6-0
4. #62 Robert Kelly (UNC) def. Trevor Gotkowski (WOF), 6-4, 6-1
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) def. David Sklar (WOF), 6-2, 6-4
6. Stuart DePaolo (UNC) def. Jack Thomas (WOF), 6-1, 6-0
Records: North Carolina 11-0, Wofford 5-5
Players Mentioned
