Tar Heels Race Past Furman, 6-1

Monday, February 26

Chapel Hill

4 PM

North Carolina

Furman

Anuj Watane

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

February 26, 2024 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Freshman Patrick Schoen won the clinching singles match as the North Carolina men's tennis team grabbed a 6-1 win over Furman on a beautiful Monday afternoon on the outdoor courts of the Chewning Tennis Center.

No. 37 Carolina took the doubles point and the first five singles matches, posting a win in its first outdoor match of the season.

Returning to the court after a two-week break, UNC won its third match in a row and improved to 6-3 this season. The Tar Heels are 6-1 at home. Carolina improved to 30-1-1 all-time against Furman.

The Paladins, who lost at #69 Clemson last Thursday and at Jackson State on Saturday, dropped their third match in a row and fell to 6-7.

Carolina earned wins at No. 3 (Karl Poling and Will Peters) and No. 1 doubles (Benjamin Kittay and Phillip Jordan).

The Tar Heels picked up five singles wins, including from 84th-ranked Will Peters (No. 5), Anuj Watane (No. 6), Schoen (No. 4), Poling (No. 3) and Jordan (No. 2).

How It Happened
Doubles
• Poling and Peters breezed to a 6-1 win at No. 3 doubles in short order, winning the first match of the afternoon, 6-1, over Alex Han and Cole Burnam.
• Shortly thereafter, Kittay and Jordan won for the fourth time in their last five decisions to clinch the doubles point, 6-2, over Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky.
• The match at No. 2 doubles went unfinished with Patrick Schoen and Peter Murphy leading, 5-2.

Singles
• Peters won the first singles match to make the score 2-0 Tar Heels. Peters beat Connor Laymon, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 5.
• Anuj Watane, subbing into the lineup at No. 6, beat John Rado in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, in his first dual match match of the year. He gave UNC a 3-0 advantage with the victory.
• It was 4-0 Tar Heels when Schoen beat Kennedy. Schoen took the first set, 6-1, then clawed back from behind to win the second set, 7-5, and clinch the team victory.
• Poling (6-2, 7-5) and Jordan (7-6, 6-2) won their matches in rapid succession at No. 3 and No. 2, respectively.
• Kittay played a lengthy match in his first career appearance at No. 1 singles. He dropped the first set to Poritzky, 6-4, then won an epic second set 7-6 (9-7). In the third-set tiebreaker, Poritzky outlasted Kittay, 10-3.

Notes & Tidbits
• Poling and Peters teamed up for the first time since the fall in winning their match at No. 3 doubles to start the day.
• In winning the clinching doubles match, Kittay and Jordan improved to 6-2 this season, including 5-2 in dual match action.
• Peters, ranked #84 in singles, improved to 20-8 on the season with his straight-set win at No. 5. He leads the Tar Heels in singles victories.
• Watane made his first singles appearance in a dual match this spring and improved to 9-6 on the season.
• Poling (ranked a team-high #65 in singles play thus far this season, won his third match in a row and improved to 10-7 in 2023-24.
• Jordan moved into the singles rankings at #110 last week. He has won four consecutive singles matches, two of which have come against ranked opponents.
• Schoen, a freshman from Switzerland, won his fourth singles match in a row.
• Tar Heel sophomore Will Jansen sat out the match.
• Monday's match continued a seven-match homestand for the Tar Heels that includes the final three non-conference matches of 2024, as well as four home Atlantic Coast Conference matches on the first two weekends in March.

Up Next
• Carolina will open ACC play next weekend when it hosts Georgia Tech and Clemson on Friday March 1 and Sunday March 3, respectively, in Chapel Hill.

Follow Carolina Tennis
Keep up with all the latest Tar Heel tennis news by following @carolinatennis on X and @tarheeltennis on Instagram.

Furman vs North Carolina
2/26/2024 at Chapel Hill, N.C. (Chewning Tennis Center)
#37 North Carolina 6, Furman 1

Singles competition
1. Elijah Poritzky (FUR) def. #99 Benjamin Kittay (NC) 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 1-0 (10-3)
2. #110 Phillip Jordan (NC) def. Leonardo Dal Boni (FUR) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
3. #65 Karl Poling (NC) def. Emil Westling (FUR) 6-2, 7-5
4. Patrick Schoen (NC) def. Thomas Kennedy (FUR) 6-1, 7-5
5. #84 Will Peters (NC) def. Connor Laymon (FUR) 6-0, 6-1
6. Anuj Watane (NC) def. John Rado (FUR) 6-2, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Benjamin Kittay/Phillip Jordan (NC) def. Thomas Kennedy/Elijah Poritzky (FUR) 6-2
2. Patrick Schoen/Peter Murphy (NC) vs. Ben Cahill/Emil Westling (FUR) 5-2, unfinished
3. Karl Poling/Will Peters (NC) def. Alex Han/Cole Burnam (FUR) 6-1

Match Notes:
Furman 6-7
North Carolina 6-3; National ranking #37
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (5,6,4,3,2,1) match played outdoors
T-2:31 A-100