Sunday, March 4
Chapel Hill
1:00 PM
North Carolina
3
vs
4
Texas
Freshman Benjamin Sigouin won in straight sets at No. 2 against Texas.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Tar Heels Drop 4-3 Match To No. 20 Texas
March 4, 2018 | Men's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The North Carolina men's tennis team fought back from a slow start and briefly pulled ahead but eventually fell 4-3 to No. 20 Texas Sunday afternoon on the outdoor courts at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The match came down to Court 3, where Texas's Harrison Scott, ranked No. 62, earned a three-set win over UNC senior Robert Kelly, ranked No. 105, to take the team victory.
"Credit to Texas – they played a good match," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "We knew they had a good team. They jumped on us in doubles – obviously we came out pretty flat, but I knew we'd fight back. Congratulations to Texas."
Sixth-ranked UNC falls to 10-3 overall with the loss while the Longhorns improved to 9-2. Next up for the Tar Heels is an Atlantic Coast Conference road match at Duke Saturday at 1 p.m.
Texas opened the non-conference matchup by claiming the doubles point with wins on Courts 1 and 2. It marked just the third time this spring that UNC has dropped the doubles point and the first time that the Tar Heels haven't won at least one of the three doubles matches.
"That's the worst doubles point we've played all year," Paul said. "But we fought back and we were up in spots."
UNC junior Blaine Boyden, playing on Court 5, was the first to win his singles match, evening the team score at 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-0 win. Freshman Benjamin Sigouin then won 6-3, 6-2 on Court 2 to give the Tar Heels a 2-1 lead.
The Longhorns claimed the next two matches to finish, with No. 111 Rodrigo Banzer beating UNC's Josh Peck 6-4, 6-4 on Court 6 and No. 43 Leonardo Telles battling past Tar Heel sophomore Simon Soendergaard on Court 4.
With that, Texas led 3-2 with two courts left in action and both in third sets. On Court 1, Tar Heel sophomore William Blumberg fell 6-4 in the first set but won the second by the same score to force a third. He trailed 4-3 when the Court 4 matchup finished but held on to win the set 6-4 on a long, high return by Yuya Ito. That made the overall score 3-3.
On Court 3, Kelly won his first set in a tiebreaker but dropped the second 6-3. When Blumberg's match finished and all eyes turned to Kelly's court, he trailed 5-2 in the third. With his teammates leading the crowd in cheers, he fought back to make it 5-3 but eventually fell, making the final score 4-3.
No. 20 Texas 4, No. 6 North Carolina 3
Doubles
Order of match finish: (2,1)
1. #3 Banzer/Telles (UT) d. #6 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC), 6-3
2. Ortiz/Sigsgaard UT) d. Kodali/Sigouin (UNC), 6-2
3. Soendergarrd/Kiger (UNC) v. Ito/Markes (UT), 5-5 UF
Singles
Order of match finish: (5,2,6,4,1,3)
1. #1 William Blumberg (UNC) d. Yuya Ito (UT), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. #44 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-3, 6-2
3. #62 Harrison Scott (UT) d. #105 Robert Kelly (UNC), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3
4. #43 Leonardo Telles (UT) d. Simon Soendergaard (UNC), 7-6(5), 6-4
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Adrian Ortiz (UT), 6-2, 6-0
6. #111 Rodrigo Banzer (UT) d. Josh Peck (UNC), 6-4, 6-4
Records: UNC 10-3, Texas 9-2
"Credit to Texas – they played a good match," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "We knew they had a good team. They jumped on us in doubles – obviously we came out pretty flat, but I knew we'd fight back. Congratulations to Texas."
Sixth-ranked UNC falls to 10-3 overall with the loss while the Longhorns improved to 9-2. Next up for the Tar Heels is an Atlantic Coast Conference road match at Duke Saturday at 1 p.m.
Texas opened the non-conference matchup by claiming the doubles point with wins on Courts 1 and 2. It marked just the third time this spring that UNC has dropped the doubles point and the first time that the Tar Heels haven't won at least one of the three doubles matches.
"That's the worst doubles point we've played all year," Paul said. "But we fought back and we were up in spots."
UNC junior Blaine Boyden, playing on Court 5, was the first to win his singles match, evening the team score at 1-1 with a 6-2, 6-0 win. Freshman Benjamin Sigouin then won 6-3, 6-2 on Court 2 to give the Tar Heels a 2-1 lead.
The Longhorns claimed the next two matches to finish, with No. 111 Rodrigo Banzer beating UNC's Josh Peck 6-4, 6-4 on Court 6 and No. 43 Leonardo Telles battling past Tar Heel sophomore Simon Soendergaard on Court 4.
With that, Texas led 3-2 with two courts left in action and both in third sets. On Court 1, Tar Heel sophomore William Blumberg fell 6-4 in the first set but won the second by the same score to force a third. He trailed 4-3 when the Court 4 matchup finished but held on to win the set 6-4 on a long, high return by Yuya Ito. That made the overall score 3-3.
On Court 3, Kelly won his first set in a tiebreaker but dropped the second 6-3. When Blumberg's match finished and all eyes turned to Kelly's court, he trailed 5-2 in the third. With his teammates leading the crowd in cheers, he fought back to make it 5-3 but eventually fell, making the final score 4-3.
No. 20 Texas 4, No. 6 North Carolina 3
Doubles
Order of match finish: (2,1)
1. #3 Banzer/Telles (UT) d. #6 Blumberg/Kelly (UNC), 6-3
2. Ortiz/Sigsgaard UT) d. Kodali/Sigouin (UNC), 6-2
3. Soendergarrd/Kiger (UNC) v. Ito/Markes (UT), 5-5 UF
Singles
Order of match finish: (5,2,6,4,1,3)
1. #1 William Blumberg (UNC) d. Yuya Ito (UT), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. #44 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) d. Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-3, 6-2
3. #62 Harrison Scott (UT) d. #105 Robert Kelly (UNC), 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3
4. #43 Leonardo Telles (UT) d. Simon Soendergaard (UNC), 7-6(5), 6-4
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC) d. Adrian Ortiz (UT), 6-2, 6-0
6. #111 Rodrigo Banzer (UT) d. Josh Peck (UNC), 6-4, 6-4
Records: UNC 10-3, Texas 9-2
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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