After splitting a pair of matches against Florida State and Miami a week ago, the No. 2 North Carolina men's tennis team proved to be back on track in its ACC home opener on Friday.
With a 7-0 sweep against Louisville, the Tar Heels earned their second conference win in a row after dropping their first match of the season against the Seminoles.
UNC (17-1, 2-1 ACC) started the day by splitting the first two sets in doubles action with the Cardinals (9-10, 0-5) before ultimately clinching the doubles point, as the third-ranked duo Brett Clark and Robert Kelly won the deciding match 6-2.
In singles action, all six Tar Heels won their matches. Kelly won 6-1, 6-2; Clark won his match 6-1, 6-2 and Jack Murray won 6-1, 6-3 to clinch the match for his team.
Junior Ronnie Schneider and first-years Blaine Boyden and Anu Kodali piled on to the victory, winning the final three matches to shut out the Cardinals in singles play. Schneider defeated his opponent 6-1, 6-2; Boyden won 6-4, 6-4, and Kodali secured the final point, winning 6-4, 6-3.
“Going into N.C. State with a 7-0 win is definitely great but we just got to treat it one match at a time,” Murray said. “They always play us very close. They’re a great team, and we just got to go in and compete really well and hopefully get the job done.”
Quotable
“We had really good energy. I like that. It really sort of set the tone there for the whole day, and then I like the way we sort of played really up and down the lineup.” –- Coach Sam Paul on the early energy his team showed in the doubles matches.
