The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Friday, March 29, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Men's Tennis Nets First Win

Led by a trio of newcomers, North Carolina shut out Davidson in the Tar Heels' first home match this year.

New experiences come with hesitations.

But for the three new UNC men's tennis players, apprehension hardly affected them Thursday against Davidson.

Freshmen Geoff Boyd and Daniel Pinchbeck and sophomore transfer Andy Metzler controlled any early jitters and helped UNC beat the Wildcats 7-0 at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

"Its definitely a good opener," said UNC coach Sam Paul. "It's very good for our young guys to get out there and play some matches."

The third-seeded Boyd won his first match 6-3, 6-3 against Davidson's Rob Haywood, while No. 6 Pinchbeck topped Geoff Mullen 6-0, 6-2. Metzler beat Jonathan Britt 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Before singles play, the Tar Heels (1-0) stifled the Wildcats (0-1) with three quick doubles wins. The top two doubles teams -- the No. 1 duo of Boyd and Nick Monroe and the No. 2 team of Marcio Petrone and Greg Archer -- defeated their opponents 8-3. The team of Pinchbeck and Trystan Meniane won 8-4.

Petrone followed his doubles success by beating Chad Winebarger 6-2, 6-2. Petrone did not play in the ACC Indoor Championships because of a sore hamstring.

"Although I played well, I was feeling a little bit rusty," Petrone said. "It's good to finally get a few matches under the belt."

Following Petrone's lead, second-seeded Monroe won 6-0, 6-1, in a match that lasted less than 40 minutes.

"I played well," Monroe said. "I got into the flow of the match and hopefully it will carry over into tomorrow."

The fifth-seeded Meniane also breezed through his match at 6-1, 6-3.

The only player that had trouble was Metzler, who had to win a tiebreaker in the first set to secure his win against Britt.

Excluding Britt, the rest of the Wildcats won just 17 games in singles.

"In a perfect world we wouldn't schedule Carolina first," said Davidson head coach Jeff Frank.

With the victory, the Tar Heels looked ready for Friday's home match against No. 20 Texas.

"It will be a great early test for us," Paul said. "We're looking forward to it."

 

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

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.