April 3, 2008

UNC Tops NC State For Eleventh Straight Victory

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The tenth-ranked UNC Tar Heels made an emphatic statement Wednesday afternoon, defeating the 44th-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack 5-2 to improve their win streak to 11 and their overall record to 15-3. The win ensures that Friday's match versus top-ranked Virginia will be a match of ACC unbeatens, as UNC is 5-0 and UVA is 7-0.

UNC clinched Wednesday's match by winning the first four team points, powered by a doubles sweep that got the Tar Heels going. The match opened with an upset at number one doubles, as the nation's tenth-ranked duo of Taylor Fogleman and Chris Kearney cruised to an 8-2 win over ninth-ranked Nick Cavady and Jay Weinacker. 42nd-ranked Stefan Hardy and Clay Donato followed up that win by clinching the team doubles point with a 9-7 victory at the second spot. Seniors David Stone and Tristan Heinrich finished up the perfect doubles effort with an 8-6 win that left the Wolfpack without a single set win going into singles.

Singles play was another ranked players romp for the Tar Heels, as 83rd-ranked Chris Kearney increased UNC's team lead to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 win before passing the torch to 73rd-ranked Stefan Hardy, who upped the lead to 3-0 after defeating Nick Cavady 6-1, 6-4. After Hardy's win, the Tar Heels looked for a closer and found one in senior Will Plyler, who battled through a close second set against fellow Raleigh native David Chermak to pull out a 6-3, 6-4 victory that delivered the win to North Carolina. While the match was decided, senior Benjamin Carlotti pulled out a huge upset at number one singles, fighting back from a first-set loss to win a marathon third set tiebreaker over 64th-ranked James McGee.

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