UNC Blazes Seminoles

Paced by a strong doubles effort and a balanced team attack, UNC made quick work of FSU with a 6-1 victory.

The Tar Heels gained momentum with early victories at No. 2 and

No. 3 doubles.

Marcio Petrone and Greg Archer were victorious 8-2 at the second seed while Trystan Meniane and Chad Riley won 8-4 at the third seed.

Individually, Meniane and Riley were responsible for North Carolina's first two singles victories.

Meniane defeated Bartosz Koldej 6-4, 6-2 to notch his fifth consecutive singles victory.

Soon after, Riley finished off Florida State's Rodrigo Laub 6-4, 6-2.

"Riley had his best match today," UNC coach Sam Paul said.

After clinching his victory, Riley threw his fists in the air and let out a thundering yell that seemed to bring on the showers that had been threatening all afternoon.

Although the rain caused a mass retreat into the confines of Cone-Kenfield that briefly delayed play, it was evident that the holdup had no ill effects on the Tar Heels' rhythm.

Once the action resumed, North Carolina senior David Cheatwood promptly clinched the match with a straight-set victory against FSU's Romain Jurd.

The sealing of their fourth consecutive win in no way caused a letup, as the Tar Heels received gritty tiebreaker play from Archer and Nick Monroe. Archer won his match 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), and Monroe fought through two tiebreakers to win 7-6 (7-6),

7-6 (10-8).

"I knew it would come down to my returns," said Monroe of his enthralling 10-8 second set tiebreaker victory against FSU's Gustav Bucht.

"I had to step up and take the ball early on my returns. I was playing an unbelievable server."

Although Monroe was up by one set when the match moved indoors, he acknowledged that the match was far from over.

"When we moved inside, there were going to be no elements, and I knew he was going to be hitting it big," Monroe said.

"I knew I'd have to see the ball well and really take it to him."

The exhilaration following Monroe's comeback was subdued, however, because just as he was finishing his match, top-seeded Petrone went down on center court with an ankle injury.

After a short injury timeout, during which Petrone's ankle was taped, play resumed. Petrone was swiftly defeated by Florida State's Xaiver Luscan 6-7

(7-1), 6-2, 6-2.

UNC coach Sam Paul downplayed the injury to his team's ace, saying it was not anything serious. But he did acknowledge that stopping the match was considered.

"We thought about stopping. The match was already clinched, and we don't ever want to hurt a guy, even when the match is on the line," Paul said.

The victory was the fourth straight for the Tar Heels (8-5), who pushed their record to 4-0 in the ACC with the win.

Paul credited much of North Carolina's recent success to their doubles play. The Tar Heels have won the doubles point in seven consecutive matches.

However, doubles play is only worth one point in the match, and the Tar Heels complemented their doubles victories with a strong singles effort.

"Overall, it was the most solid effort we've had all year as far as everybody clicking on all cylinders," Paul said. "I'm really pleased with these guys."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.