Tar Heels Come From Behind To Beat No. 5 Oklahoma

Sunday, February 7

Chapel Hill, N.C.

1:00 PM

North Carolina

Oklahoma

February 7, 2016 | Men's Tennis

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – For the second weekend in a row, the UNC men's tennis team hosted a top-10 opponent at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, and for the second weekend in a row the Tar Heels came up with a significant win in front of a raucous crowd.

On Jan. 30, it was a 4-0 victory over No. 7 Illinois. Sunday afternoon, both the drama and the competition were turned up a notch, as the Tar Heels earned a 4-3 come-from-behind win over No. 5 Oklahoma. Seventh-ranked UNC (6-0) is the only team in the country with wins over two top-10 teams this season.

“It's a great win for us, to beat a team like Oklahoma after losing the doubles point,” UNC coach Sam Paul said. “We had some really outstanding performances in the singles spots that we won. I'm proud of the guys, how hard they fought.”

It was the first time this season that Carolina has failed to claim the doubles point. With a split in the first four singles matches to be completed and Oklahoma leading 3-2, the final two singles spots went into third sets, with doubles partners Brett Clark and Robert Kelly both still in action on courts 3 and 5, respectively. After Kelly wrapped up a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over Maxime Mora, the match game down to Clark. (Watch Kelly's clinching point here.)

With his teammates two courts away leading the crowd in the traditional “Tar!”/”Heels!” cheer, Clark held onto a third-set lead and won 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 to claim the pivotal point for UNC. The win was the 98th of the senior captain's collegiate career.

“We feed off our crowd, which was amazing today,” Clark said. “It feels great – it was a complete team win.”

Clark and Kelly also were the last on the court in doubles action. UNC started strong, with senior Brayden Shnur and junior Jack Murray winning 6-4 at No. 2. But Oklahoma then won at No. 3, also by a 6-4 score. With that, it came down to the No. 1 doubles match, and the top-ranked doubles team in the country. Clark and Kelly, undefeated this spring, faced off against Oklahoma's Andrew Harris and Alex Ghilea. The Sooners were able to pull out a 7-5 win to claim the point.

Kicking off singles play, Tar Heel freshman Blaine Boyden fell 6-2, 6-2 to Andrew Biro at No. 6. (IT was the first singles match of Boyden's UNC career.) Murray won 6-2, 6-4 over Ghilea at No. 4, then UNC junior Ronnie Schneider topped Spencer Papa 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 to clear the courts on one side of the tennis center and consolidate the entirety of the large crowd on the other side, angling for a view of the ongoing action on courts one, three and five.

Oklahoma then took the No. 1 match, with Axel Alvarez defeating UNC junior Brayden Schnur to put the Sooners up 3-2 and the spotlight on Kelly and Clark, who delivered the wins that kept their team undefeated.

UNC has now won 25 consecutive home matches. Like his players, Paul voiced appreciation for the crowd that helped propel his team to its latest victory. “We're getting great crowds, the best crowds we've had since I've been here,” he said. “It's a lot of fun and it's great that they come out and support our program – we really appreciate it.”

Next up for the Tar Heels is the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va., Feb. 12-15. UNC's next home match is Feb. 21 vs. Wofford.

#7 North Carolina 4, #5 Oklahoma 3

Doubles (Team Winning Majority Of Matches Earns One Team Point)

Order of match finish: (2,3,1)

1. Harris/Ghilea (OU) def. Robert Kelly/Brett Clark (UNC), 7-5

2. Brayden Schnur/Jack Murray (UNC) def. Alvarez/Papa (OU), 6-4

3. Biro/Siegel def. Ronnie Schneider/Blaine Boyden (UNC) , 6-4

Singles (One Team Point Per Singles Match)

Order of match finish: (6,4,2,1,5,3)

1. Axel Alvarez (OU) def. Brayden Schnur (UNC), 7-6(3), 6-0

2. Ronnie Schneider (UNC) def. Spencer Papa (OU), 6-4, 6-4

3. Brett Clark (UNC) def. Florin Bragusi (OU), 7-5, 5-7, 6-2

4. Jack Murray (UNC) def. Alex Ghilea (OU), 6-2, 6-4