Feb. 2, 2008

Tar Heels Defeat Charlotte 6-1

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina defeated Charlotte 6-1 in the first half of a Friday doubleheader. The 10th ranked Tar Heels improved to 3-0 and will face James Madison tonight at 7:30 p.m.

North Carolina won five singles matches, all in straight sets. At number four singles, Michael Anders and Andrew Crone split sets. Since the match was decided, a 10 point tiebreaker was played in lieu of the third set.

Senior David Stone improved to a team leading 12-2 in singles. Stone and Tristan Heinrich also clinched the doubles point on Friday afternoon with an 8-3 victory at number two doubles.

North Carolina Shuts Out James Madison

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - 10th-ranked North Carolina swept James Madison 7-0 Friday evening in the second half of a doubleheader. Carolina did not drop a set in improving to 4-0. Earlier Friday afternoon, UNC downed Charlotte, 6-1.

Senior David Stone won his sixth match in a row and 13th overall by defeating JMU's Brian Rubenstein 6-1,6-2. Chris Kearney and Andrew Crone put the Tar Heels up 3-0 with wins at number two and six singles, while Stone's victory at number five clinched the overall team match.

North Carolina will face Rice, a 4-3 winner over N.C. State today, at 12 Noon Sunday. The match will be played indoors at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Hwy. 54 at Friday Center Drive.

No. 1 Cavaliers Blank No. 32 VCU 7-0

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The top-ranked Virginia men's tennis team posted its second consecutive home shutout, blanking No. 32 VCU 7-0 Friday night at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar's Head Sports Club. With the victory, the Cavaliers improve to 4-0 on the season.

"I was pleased with the hard work and improvement of every guy on the team this week leading up to this match and it certainly paid off," said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. "VCU is an excellent team, one that has top ten talent, and might be the best overall team we have played this season. I thought we did an tremendous job of playing at a higher level than we did last week."

The Cavaliers took the early advantage over the Rams by winning a tight doubles point. Virginia quickly got an edge as the nation's top ranked doubles team, Somdev Devvarman (Chennai, India) and Treat Huey (Alexandria, Va.), cruised to an 8-2 win over Sebastien Ripoll and Emil Lindgren at No. 1 doubles.

Blue Devils Lose Nailbiter to No. 8 Illinois

DURHAM, N.C. - The No. 15 Duke men's tennis team was only a few points away from pulling off the upset over No. 8 Illinois but the Fighting Illini was able to come away with the 4-3 victory at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.

With the match tied 3-3 it came down to the No. 6 single match between Duke's Alex Stone and Illinois' Brandon Davis. Stone kept battling and fought off five different match points for Davis to stay alive. Davis was up 6-5 with ad-in three times but Stone answered with a big point every time and eventually would tie the set at 6-6 and force a tiebreaker. Davis went up 6-2 and Stone clawed his way for two straight points before Davis finally put him away for the 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (4) victory.

Illinois got off to a crucial 1-0 lead by taking two of the three doubles matches. As tightly contested as the final singles match, the three doubles matches all went back-and-forth. No. 36 Billy Heiser and Ryan Rowe of Illinois defeated David Goulet and Christopher Price 8-6 and then Davis and Ruben Gonzales won 9-8 (4) against Reid Carleton and Kiril Dimitrov. The Duke doubles team of Stone and Dylan Arnould was the only Blue Devils' doubles team to win, defeating Waylon Chin and Marc Spicijaric 9-8 (4).

Miami Snaps Three Match Win Streak at Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 36 University of Miami men's tennis team dropped its first match of the spring season, falling to No. 3 Ohio State, 5-2, at the OSU Varsity Tennis Courts in Columbus this evening.

The Buckeyes (4-0) got off to a strong start, sweeping all three doubles matches to take the early 1-0 lead. Ohio State's top-two doubles teams handed Miami's 18th ranked duo of Vivek Subramanian and David Rosenfeld its first loss at No. 2 and UM's 30th ranked pair of All-American Daniel Vallverdu and Carl Sundberg its first loss at No. 1.

The Buckeyes extended their lead to a match-clinching 4-0, with straight-sets singles wins at the No. 3, 2 and 6 positions.

Miami (3-1) finally got on the scoreboard as Vallverdu, ranked seventh in the nation in singles play, knocked off Ohio State's No. 85 Bryan Koniecko, 6-2, 7-6, to improve to 4-0 in dual matches. The Hurricanes added a second point, as Subramanian battled back to defeat Shuhei Uzawa in the No. 4 spot, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

No. 20 NC State Drops Heartbreaker to No. 41 Rice

RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State and Rice played for over six hours friday night and the match was knotted at 3-3. Moments later Wolfpack freshman Eric Turner had two break points slip through his fingers to get back in the third set in a 4-3 loss. The Rice Owls (1-1), ranked No. 41 in the ITA, held on after taking the doubles point from the Wolfpack (3-1).

NC State lost a tightly contested doubles point with losses at No. 2 and No. 3 to start the match. The first loss was at No. 3, as James McGee and Rob Lowe fell, 8-4.

The No. 1 doubles combination of Jay Weinacker and Nick Cavaday, ranked No. 16 nationally by the ITA, pulled the Pack even with a strong showing. Rice was serving at 4-3, but the Wolfpack combo reeled off five of the last six games, including a big break while up 5-4, to win 8-5.

Clemson Falls 4-3 to No. 24 Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Kaden Hensel defeated Rok Bizjak at number one singles 6-3, 7-6 and clinched the match in leading 24th-ranked Tennessee to a 4-3 win over Clemson in a men's intercollegiate tennis match at Knoxville, TN Friday night.

With the win the 24th-ranked Volunteers are now 5-0, while the Tigers are now 4-3 this season. The Tigers will also play Austin Peay on this road trip in Knoxville.

Clemson Shuts Out Austin Peay

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Clemson defeated Austin Peay 7-0 at Knoxville, TN Sunday in a men's intercollegiate tennis match.

Clemson is now 5-2 on the year. The Tigers will play Loyola Marymount and Southern Cal in Los Angeles, CA Friday in Clemson's next action.