Fiery Boyd propels Tar Heels to victory

In the middle of Geoff Boyd’s emotional match Thursday, the North Carolina men’s tennis star took a break.

While in the heat of battle with South Carolina’s Pedro Rodrigues, Boyd turned to the court next to him, where teammate Sebastian Guejman had just lost a point.

The senior looked over at the freshman and told him to adjust his form.

On a team looking for a leader after losing All-American Nick Monroe to graduation, Boyd has stepped up to the challenge, as he showed in the Tar Heels’ 5-2 victory at the Cone-Kenfield Indoor Tennis Center.

The No. 30 Tar Heels came out firing, taking the doubles point with 8-6 wins by Boyd and Brad Pomeroy at No. 1, and Guejman and David Stone at No. 2.

Boyd and Pomeroy, who are ranked No. 9 in the country, were never threatened in their match, despite the close tally. When asked about the tight two-point difference, Boyd responded, “It was close?”

UNC (5-2) quickly picked up the second point of the match at No. 5 singles, where Derek Porter defeated South Carolina’s Dmitry Babenko 6-0, 6-0.

Porter, who garnered All-ACC recognition two seasons ago, completely controlled the match from start to finish.

“I thought he played really well,” said Coach Sam Paul. “It set the tone for the match.”

The momentum continued as Guejman took out Ben Atkinson 6-2, 6-2. The win brought North Carolina within a point of victory.

The Tar Heels clinched the match with Raian Luchici’s 6-3, 6-4 win against Tom Eklund. In the final set Luchici saw his 5-2 lead slip to 5-4, but he rallied to clinch the defeat of the No. 41 Gamecocks (4-1).

The junior kept his calm, forcing a long rally with Eklund until he found an opening and delivered a low screamer into the corner that Eklund weakly backhanded into the net.

“Every end of the match is pressure, and you have to be focused to finish it up,” Luchici said.

Luchici lost Saturday against Campbell’s Jiri Beranek but rebounded well.

“I felt good out there,” Luchici said. “Especially after the loss last week. I’m glad that I came out on top.”

As for Boyd, he took his match with the fiery Rodrigues to three sets but fell 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The match was filled with disputed calls and emotional exchanges on both sides. Boyd said he uses spirited yelling and fist-pumping to encourage his teammates.

“I think and I hope that it helps the team out,” Boyd said. “If they hear me screaming and remaining positive, hopefully, it rubs off on them. If it didn’t help the team out, I wouldn’t do it.”

Despite his tight loss, the co-captain was more concerned about the team’s victory than his individual performance.

“You can’t win matches if you play scared, and I played a little scared,” Boyd said. “But I’m so happy the team won. That’s all that matters.”

 

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.