North Carolina tennis player Clay Donato hurled his racket into the fence after Florida State player Jean-Yves Aubone ended a controversial singles match in a tiebreaker.
The 6-7 7-6 10-8 win ended a four-hour battle that saw No. 34 UNC lose 5-2 Sunday at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center — its second consecutive loss after losing to No. 45 Miami 3-4 on Friday.
But UNC coach Sam Paul did not see anything wrong with the team morale" despite displays such as Donato's.
""We're a fighting team"" he said. They're always going to look a bit frustrated when they lose. But nothing too bad.""
Sunday saw two fighting teams clash again" as UNC renewed what has become a bit of a rivalry with No. 14 Florida State.
The Tar Heels have won the last three matches against the Seminoles by one point" and each win has been marked by intensity.
""Both teams are expecting a battle when they come out here"" UNC junior Andrew Crone said.
But for the first time since 2006, it was Florida State who came out on top, giving UNC its first losing streak of the season.
A big factor in both losses was the doubles point — losing it forced the Tar Heels to play from behind going into singles play.
Donato and partner Taylor Fogleman rallied from a 0-6 deficit to get within a point of the Seminoles, only to lose 7-9.
And the loss by Donato and Fogleman turned out to be symbolic of the team losses to Miami and Florida State.
We got in too big of a hole early" Donato said. We tried to dig it out and almost did but it was just too little" too late.""
But Paul was optimistic about his team's play in doubles"" saying that the young team is improving and just needs to keep working.
Crone echoed that sentiment.
""Really" we're just like one or two points away from winning the doubles point" he said. We just need to win a couple and get the confidence going.""
The Tar Heels will have a good opportunity to restore their confidence as they continue their six-game home stand — and it's not that UNC has not faced this type of adversity before.
The team responded to its only losing streak last season by reeling off 11 wins in a row.
And maybe that is why the team is not nearly as frustrated as it appeared after Sunday's loss.
""Obviously right now we're not upbeat"" Crone said. But I think we'll be all right.""
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
M. Tennis: Men's tennis faces tough defeat from FSU
Brennan Boyajian fell in both his singles and doubles match" as No. 34 North Carolina fell 5-2 to No. 14 Florida State Sunday. UNC also lost to Miami on Friday.
