Landmark Wins Bump Tar Heel Record To 5-0

Sunday, January 22

Chapel Hill, N.C.

12:30 PM

North Carolina

Tennessee-Chattanooga

January 23, 2017 | Men's Tennis

By: UNC Athletic Communications

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina men's tennis team earned a pair landmark wins on Sunday, making Sam Paul the winningest coach in program history and then bumping him up to second place on the Atlantic Coast Conference career wins list.

On the indoor courts at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center with rain falling outside through much of the day, UNC beat UT Chattanooga 6-0 in the early afternoon and The Citadel 7-0 in the evening. The first was Win No. 419 in Paul's 24 years as the Carolina head coach, moving him ahead of Don Skakle, who coached the Tar Heels to 418 wins in his 22-year career in Chapel Hill, 1959-80.

Win No. 420 moved Paul ahead of Virginia coach Brian Boland, who has 419 wins in his tenure at the school. In first place on the ACC coaching wins list is Chuck Kriese, who in a 33-year career at Clemson coached the Tigers to 685 wins. (Coincidentally, Kriese was on hand Sunday, as he's now the head coach at The Citadel.)

“Coach Skakle was incredible,” Paul said. “To even be coaching at the same university is an honor – he's a legend. I just want to say thank you to the players who have been here over the last 24 years. I've never won a match here – it's the players. I thank my staff and especially Tripp Phillips, my assistant, who was also a player here.

“I wish my parents were here to see this. And I thought today about Coach Allen Morris, too, who gave me the opportunity to coach at UNC. I feel very fortunate.”

The milestone victories made ninth-ranked UNC 5-0 on the season, with all five wins shutouts.

Against the Mocs in the day's first match, the Tar Heels came out ready to play, with the No. 2 doubles team of seniors Ronnie Schneider and Jack Murray off the court with a 6-1 win, capped by a Murray ace, in just 23 minutes. Freshman William Blumberg and junior Robert Kelly won 6-2 at No. 1 two minutes later minutes later, and the No. 3 match was halted with UNC's Blaine Boyden and Anu Kodali leading 4-1.

In singles, Murray and Kelly earned quick wins and Schneider clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles. Blumberg went on to win at No. 2 and Boyden at No. 6, while freshman Josh Peck led at No. 5 when the match was stopped.

Against the Bulldogs, UNC again wrapped up the doubles point quickly, with Boyden and Peck winning 6-1 at No. 3 and Murray and Schneider 6-3 at No. 2.

In singles, upperclassmen again led the way with Kelly (No. 2), Schneider (No. 1) and Murray (No. 3) the first three off. But it was the other upperclassman on the roster, fifth-year senior Chad Hoskins, who earned the biggest cheers. Playing at No. 6, he earned a 6-1, 6-1 win over Trey Davis.

“Today was a good opportunity for lots of people to play and great for fifth-year senior Chad Hoskins to get in there today,” Paul said. “I'm happy for Chad that he got to play and happy he got the win.”

Next up for the Tar Heels is the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Tar Heels host Notre Dame on Friday at 1:30 p.m., following a matchup between Vanderbilt and Penn State. The winners meet Saturday at 6:30 p.m. for a spot in ITA National Team Indoors.

Jan. 22, 2017

Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, Chapel Hill, N.C.

No. 9 North Carolina 6, UT Chattanooga 0

Doubles

Order of match finish: (2,1)

1. Blumberg/Kelly (UNC) d. Wilson/Bustamante (UTC), 6-2

2. Murray/Schneider (UNC) d. Birnbaum/Gerdes (UTC), 6-1

3. Boyden/Kodali (UNC) vs. LaHue/Grobbelaar (UTC), 4-1

Singles

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

1. Ronnie Schneider (UNC) d. Nic Wilson (UTC), 6-0, 6-2

2. William Blumberg (UNC) d. Niklas Gerdes (UTC), 6-3, 6-3