No. 4 Tar Heels Blank Georgia State To Reach ITA National Indoor Championship

Sunday, January 26

Chapel Hill

1:30 PM

North Carolina

Georgia State

Senior Josh Peck clinched the match victory at No. 5 singles.

Photo by: Rebecca Lawson

No. 4 Tar Heels Blank Georgia State To Reach ITA National Indoor Championship

January 26, 2020 | Men's Tennis

CHAPEL HILL—Fourth-ranked North Carolina concluded the ITA Weekend Kickoff with a 4-0 win over Georgia State on Sunday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

Senior and #82 Josh Peck clinched the victory with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Kevin Huynh at No. 5 singles.

The victory secures Carolina's spot at the 16-team ITA National Team Indoor Championship for a sixth consecutive season.

The Tar Heels, ranked No. 4 in the nation in the ITA national poll, improved to 4-0 to start the season. Georgia State (ranked No. 65) fell to 1-1.

Carolina won the doubles point by taking victories at No. 3 and No. 2. Rinky Hijikata and Benjamin Sigouin won first at No. 3, dropping the first game but eventually winning, 6-2. Seventh-ranked Mac Kiger and Simon Soendergaard won at No. 2, beating Quentin Coulaud and Bailey Showers, 6-3. William Blumberg and Brian Cernoch were leading, 5-4, at No. 1 doubles but the match went unfinished after UNC won at No. 2 and No. 3.

Kiger won the first singles match for Carolina over Bailey Showers at No. 6, 6-3, 6-0. Benjamin Sigouin beat Roberts Grinvalds 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2 singles for a 3-0 lead. Peck clinched the trip to Madison at No. 5.

Blumberg (No. 1 singles) and Hijikata (No. 3) both led their matches and were within a game of clinching wins in their matches when Peck's victory ended things.

Brian Cernoch had split his two sets at No. 4 singles when the match ended.

"Congratulations to Georgia State, they played hard," UNC head coach Sam Paul said after the win. "I'm happy for our guys. To get the doubles point and a lot of momentum against a good team was a good start. We'll learn a lot from this match and carry it on with us, but I'm very pleased to be moving on."

The National Team Indoors will be Feb. 14-17 in Madison, Wisc. This will be the first year the men's event will be held in Madison, though Wisconsin has hosted the women's National Team Indoors 14 times since its inception in 1988.

Carolina won the ITA National Team Indoors in 2016 and has reached the semifinals in two of the last three years. In 2017, UNC lost to top-ranked Virginia in the semifinals in Charlottesville, Va. In 2019, third-ranked Wake Forest beat the Tar Heels in New York City.

The Tar Heels will return to action next weekend when they host Illinois and South Carolina at home on Saturday and Sunday evenings, respectively.

Tennis Match Results
Georgia State vs North Carolina Jan 26, 2020 at Chapel Hill, NC (Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center)
#4 North Carolina 4, #65 Georgia State 0

Singles competition
1. William Blumberg (NC) vs. Vazha Shubladze (GSU) 6-4, 4-3, unfinished
2. Benjamin Sigouin (NC) def. Roberts Grinvalds (GSU) 6-4, 6-1
3. Rinky Hijikata (NC) vs. Quentin Coulaud (GSU) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
4. Brian Cernoch (NC) vs. Andrei Duarte (GSU) 6-7 (2-7), 5-4, unfinished
5. #82 Josh Peck (NC) def. Kevin Huynh (GSU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Mac Kiger (NC) def. Bailey Showers (GSU) 6-3, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. William Blumberg/Brian Cernoch (NC) vs. Roberts Grinvalds/Andrei Duarte (GSU) 5-4, unfinished 2. #7 Mac Kiger/Simon Soendergaard (NC) def. Quentin Coulaud/Bailey Showers (GSU) 6-3
3. Benjamin Sigouin/Rinky Hijikata (NC) def. Vazha Shubladze/Diego Padilha (GSU) 6-2

Match Notes:
Georgia State 1-1; National ranking #65 North Carolina 4-0; National ranking #4 Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,2,5) T-1:53 A-140