Poling Clinches 4-3 MTEN Thriller Over Georgia Tech

Friday, March 1

Chapel Hill

4 PM

North Carolina

#37 Georgia Tech

Karl Poling

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

March 1, 2024 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— North Carolina grabbed its second win over a ranked opponent of the season on Friday, topping #37 Georgia Tech, 4-3, in a thriller on the Cone-Kenfield Indoor courts of the Chewning Tennis Center.

Karl Poling won the clincher in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 4 singles to give the #48-ranked Tar Heels the victory.

Carolina, ranked #48 in the nation this week by the ITA, won its fourth consecutive match and improved to 7-1 at home. The Tar Heels are 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the ACC in 2024. UNC improved to 44-16 in the all-time series with Tech.

The Yellow Jackets, who had won four of their last five outings, fell to 9-3, 0-1.

Carolina earned doubles wins at No. 3 (Peter Murphy and Patrick Schoen) and No. 2 doubles (Will Jansen and Poling) to start the day.

The Tar Heels picked up singles wins at No. 5 (Schoen), No. 3 (Phillip Jordan) and No. 4 (Poling).

"It was a great match," Tar Heel head coach Sam Paul said afterward. "I was proud of our guys, we fought really hard up and down the line. We have all the respect in the world for Georgia Tech's staff and team. It was a great match all around."

How It Happened
Doubles
• Murphy and Schoen picked up the first doubles win of the afternoon, easing by Owen DeMuth and Andres Martin, 6-2, at No. 3.
• Jansen and Poling clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Richard Biagiotti and Krish Arora at No. 2.
• The match at No. 1 doubles was unfinished with Benjamin Kittay and Jordan leading #32 Marcus McDaniel and Keshav Chopra, 5-4.

Singles
• The Yellow Jackets tied the score at 1-1 when Martin, ranked #22 nationally, beat #67 Jansen by a 6-4, 6-3 count at No. 1 singles.
• Minutes later, Schoen won in straight sets over Arora at No. 5, 6-4, 6-2, to hand the lead back to UNC at 2-1. Schoen rushed out to a 5-1 lead in the first set before allowing Arora to close within a game at 5-4. Schoen held serve to take the set, 6-4.
• Jordan, ranked #110, lost the first game of his match against #102 Marcus McDaniel but then raced to a 6-3 win in the opening frame. McDaniel took the second set, 6-2, before Jordan took the third by a 6-1 score for a 3-1 Tar Heel team lead.
• Georgia Tech got back-to-back, third-set tiebreaker wins at No. 2 and No. 6 singles to tie the score at 3-all. Chopra beat #99 Kittay by a 6-2, 7-6 (4) tally at No. 2, and Rohan Sachdev beat #84 Will Peters at No. 6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
• It all came down to No. 4. Poling broke serve twice against Biagiotti and took the first set, 6-4. Biagiotti roared back to win the second, 6-1, and force the decisive third frame. Trailing 5-4 in the set, Poling picked up a break to even things at 5-all, then held serve to take a 6-5 lead. After Biagiotti evened it at 6-all, Poling was dominant in the tiebreaker, winning 7-0.

Notes & Tidbits
• The teams played inside due to rain and cool temperatures in the area on Friday afternoon and evening.
• Murphy and Schoen improved to 7-2 as a doubles team, including 6-2 in dual match play. The duo won for the fourth time in five outings.
• Jansen and Poling won the clinching doubles match, winning their third in a row and improving to 5-4 this season (4-4 in dual matches).
• Jordan moved into the singles rankings at #110 last week. He has won five consecutive singles matches, three of which have come against ranked opponents.
• Schoen, a freshman from Switzerland, won his fifth singles match in a row.
• Poling (ranked a team-high #65 in singles play thus far this season, won his fourth match in a row and improved to 11-7 in 2023-24.
• Friday'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 ACC matches on the first two weekends in March.

Up Next
• Carolina will continue its home weekend against Clemson on Sunday March 3 in Chapel Hill at 2 p.m.

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

Georgia Tech vs North Carolina
2/29/2024 at Chapel Hill, N.C. (Chewning Tennis Center)
#48 North Carolina 4, #37 Georgia Tech 3
Singles competition
1. #22 Andres Martin (GT) def. #67 Will Jansen (NC) 6-4, 6-3
2. Keshav Chopra (GT) def. #99 Benjamin Kittay (NC) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
3. #110 Phillip Jordan (NC) def. #102 Marcus McDaniel (GT) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
4. #65 Karl Poling (NC) def. Richard Biagiotti (GT) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-0)
5. Patrick Schoen (NC) def. Krish Arora (GT) 6-4, 6-2
6. Rohan Sachdev (GT) def. #84 Will Peters (NC) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)

Doubles competition
1. Benjamin Kittay/Phillip Jordan (NC) vs. #32 Marcus McDaniel/Keshav Chopra (GT) 5-4, unfinished
2. Will Jansen/Karl Poling (NC) def. Richard Biagiotti/Krish Arora (GT) 6-3
3. Patrick Schoen/Peter Murphy (NC) def. Owen DeMuth/Andres Martin (GT) 6-2

Match Notes:
Georgia Tech 9-3, 0-1 ACC; National ranking #37
North Carolina 7-3, 1-0 ACC; National ranking #48
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,5,3,2,6,4)
T-3:05 A-229