Donato rests as men's tennis defeats Navy

Even without its celebrated captain Clay Donato, the UNC men’s tennis team cruised en route to a comfortable 6-1 victory over Navy.

The No. 22 Tar Heels (7-2) dominated all three doubles matches, losing only seven combined games. Ryan Noble fit in seamlessly with Donato’s usual partner Stefan Hardy to defeat Navy’s Owen Bullard and Eddie Konrad 8-5.

UNC clinched the doubles point with commanding 8-1 successes in the other two matches.

“We made some positive steps today in doubles,” UNC coach Sam Paul said. “The win on the road against Michigan gave us some confidence.”

The Tar Heels’ confidence could have only increased when all three top singles players won their matches in straight sets. Jose Hernandez, Hardy and Noble dropped only six games total.

“I just tried to stay on top of my guy, not let him breathe too much,” said Noble, who defeated Anderson Walls without losing a game. “I really like playing at home with the crowd because it gives you a little motivation.”

The freshman’s performance did not go unnoticed.

“Ryan’s coming off an injury in December but he’s starting to play better,” Paul said. “He’s looking much sharper on the court.”

Quick wins by the top three mathematically clinched the overall victory for UNC, but the remaining singles players fought to win two of the three remaining matches.

In his first match this year, Kyle Baker recovered from losing the second set tiebreaker to defeat Nicholas Gutsche in a shortened third set. Luke Mojica, after losing his first set against Zach Nicholson, responded by winning the following two.

“Once we got the doubles point we felt pretty comfortable and wanted to get some other guys some time,” Paul said. “It’s good for us to see where their games are in live competition.”

Hernandez defeated Navy’s No.1 singles player Bullard 6-3 in the first set before finishing the match with an unblemished 6-0 second set. Hardy similarly lost only three games on his way to overcome Marcus Rebersak 6-1,6-2 in straight sets.

The modified lineup’s success against Navy showed UNC’s depth while allowing Donato and regular starter Brennan Boyajian some needed rest.

“They’re not injured, we just wanted to play some other guys,” Paul said. “We have a strong team and don’t get caught up in the numbers.”

UNC will travel to Richmond, Va., to face VCU this Sunday. The Tar Heels’ next home match will be against conference rival North Carolina State on March 15.



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