Tar Heels sweep 2 in opener

The No. 18 North Carolina men’s tennis team showed no signs of fatigue during its second match of a doubleheader Saturday.

UNC opened its season by sweeping both Davidson and N.C. A&T at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, 7-0, 7-0.

“We brought a lot of energy out today,” said team captain Jonathan Janda. “Just a lot of intensity and focus. Overall, we played very well.”

Janda won his singles match 6-0, 6-2 against Davidson’s Matt Hartman.

He then teamed up with North Carolina freshman David Stone for doubles, and the pair went undefeated for the day. They dominated the Wildcats 8-4 and the Aggies 8-1.

But despite the commanding performance by North Carolina (2-0), which prevented the Aggies (0-1) from winning all but one game in the top three singles matches, UNC coach Sam Paul still thought his team has a lot of work ahead of them.

“It was a good little warm-up match,” Paul said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on. We’ve got to work harder. Our guys can work harder than they’re working, but they’re getting there.”

The Tar Heels used the day to get the freshmen playing time and to experience the pressure of playing in front of a crowd. It paid off, as newcomers Will Plyler and Stone won the first NCAA dual matches of their singles careers.

Plyler defeated N.C. A&T’s Jerome Kirkland 6-2, 6-3. Stone was victorious against Russ Burns of Davidson, 6-2, 6-3.

Freshman Benjamin Carlotti also won both his matches, by a score of 6-3, 6-4 against Davidson and 6-1, 6-2 against N.C. A&T.

“We got some guys to play to get some playing time,” Paul said. “It was the first match — first dual match. We get to see some of these guys perform under a little bit of a crowd up here. It’s just going to get a lot tougher from here on out.”

The veteran players also provided victories for UNC. Raian Luchici, an All-ACC pick in 2004 who is ranked No. 65 in the nation for collegiate singles, won his singles matches against Davidson (0-1) and N.C. A&T by scores of 6-1, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-0, respectively.

Junior Brad Pomeroy won his match against Davidson 6-2, 6-3 and only dropped one game to his N.C. A&T opponent.

Luchici and Pomeroy both played at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, but Luchici said it’s not unusual to be playing at different spots this early in the season.

“I think that coach was trying to switch people around and play them in different spots,” said Luchici. “Number one counts just as much as number six for our team.”

The solid team effort from all players contributed to the blowout victory. But Paul said the Tar Heels will continue to work hard so they are prepared to face No. 34 Notre Dame and No. 40 Northwestern in a week.

“I’m really glad that everyone played good,” Luchici said. “It’s very good to start on a positive note for the season. Hopefully, we can keep it up, the hard work and everything.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.