The North Carolina men’s tennis team travels well.
The No. 9 Tar Heels took down two top-ranked ACC opponents in Florida over the weekend to obtain a 20-3 record, 7-1 in the ACC.
UNC won both matches 5-2 in hard-fought battles — Friday’s match versus No. 30 Florida State lasted more than four hours, and Sunday’s match against No. 47 Miami was a come-from-behind learning experience, coach Sam Paul said.
“We have a deep team, a strong team. It was impressive today. We lost four first sets, and then we ended up battling back and got three of those matches back,” Paul said. “The guys are fighters, they really fought hard, and I’m proud of them for that.”
One of the crucial players for the Tar Heels was freshman Jack Murray, who clinched both weekend victories, a first for the young player.
He credited his teammates on the surrounding courts for the motivation to come back and win after losing the first set.
“Everyone on our team wants to win really badly,” Murray said. “That helps when you see the guy next to you who’s down and trying to fight back. That makes you want to win even more.”
On court five and six, Nelson Vick led UNC to a 3-0 lead following the doubles matches Sunday, setting Murray up for the opportunity to clinch the second match of the weekend for UNC.
Murray’s 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory and 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) win were two matches he said he was fortunate enough to win for the team.
