Nothing was given to the North Carolina men's tennis team in its 4-3 victory over Illinois — especially not to Josh Peck.
“I can’t emphasize enough how much we battle against these guys,” senior Robert Kelly said of the opponent. “We’re not the best of friends.”
For the No. 3 Tar Heels and No. 12 Fighting Illini, Saturday night was the fourth top-15 matchup in the last five meetings. Stakes were high — this was apparent in the blue and orange packs of tennis players, huddled on each side of Court Five, screaming the chants of their respective schools so loudly and so often that the rallying calls began to mix: "TAR HEELS! ILLINI!"
And with the fans from each team adding their voices to these songs, the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center became electric.
But for all the screams and the chants and the arguing, there were equal moments of silence. Most of these moments came at the end of the final singles match, whenever Peck, the 79th-ranked singles player in the country, drew back to serve. But how did it come to this, every eye on court five, with the whole match resting on the inexperienced sophomore’s shoulders?
The Tar Heels' only doubles win came from the first-time duo of junior Anu Kodali and first-year Benjamin Sigouin. The team won its match, 6-3, while the more experienced doubles partners each dropped their matches in tie-breakers. This gave Illinois (3-1) the doubles point and a 1-0 advantage heading into the remaining six singles matches.
“Anu stepped in for us, being a new doubles player,” UNC head coach Sam Paul said. “And they played good doubles.”
Heading into singles, the Tar Heels won five of their first six sets, giving the team and their fans hope after a close doubles loss. After quick wins from Sigouin, Kelly and junior Blaine Boyden, UNC (6-0) was up 3-1 with growing confidence. But, as if the match was meant for Peck to win, things began to shift in the Illini’s favor.
Illinois’ Aleks Kovacevis defeated No. 70 Simon Soendergaard in a tiebreaker match, one of four tiebreakers losses by UNC on the day. The win made the score 3-2 in favor of UNC, with the final two matches being played side by side.