Three games into the season, the Tar Heels are perfect on paper. But head coach Sam Paul says his team has plenty to work on.
“We did some good things and then I saw some things we just have to keep working on,” Paul said. “It’s so early. We haven’t even started school but three or four days (ago).”
Even though winning at this stage of the season is compulsory, nothing is set in stone. The team is continuing to get acclimated to playing collegiate tennis again, and Paul is adjusting the lineup.
North Carolina’s primary goal for the first part of the season remains, though, to win the ITA National Indoor Championships.
“Obviously, it’s a different team but, I think, same sort of expectation,” said senior Ronnie Schneider, who won his 100th career singles victory Monday.
Last year, North Carolina squeaked by in the qualifying rounds of the ITA National Indoor Championships, and the Tar Heels ended up winning it all after upsetting ACC foe Virginia.
“We have five people who haven’t gotten to experience a national championship, so (we’re) playing for them to experience that same feeling,” Schneider said, “which I think might be the most indescribable feeling you can have.”
The Tar Heels host Notre Dame — an opponent who defeated UNC last year — and the winner of Penn State and Vanderbilt in the ITA Kickoff next weekend. Winning those two matches would secure a berth in the ITA National Indoor Championships.