Men's tennis picks up two wins on weekend

The North Carolina men’s tennis team closed out its season at home the same way it began it — in winning fashion.

The eighth-ranked Tar Heels cruised through Georgia Tech 7-0 on Friday and then pulled out a win against 20th-ranked Clemson 6-1 on Sunday. The Tar Heels opened their season with almost identical scores, taking 7-0 victories against both East Carolina and Wofford back on Jan. 17.

Coach Sam Paul said he felt that his team executed in the ways in which it needed.

“Like I said against Georgia Tech, I felt like we played some of our best tennis,” Paul said. “I think we followed that up today.

"We have been solid up and down. And if all guys are playing well, that’s sort of our goal. They are all playing solid, all playing a complete match. And that is what we have done. Up and down the line, I think we can play better. But everybody is playing complete matches, so I think that is good."

The Tar Heels clinched the doubles point against Clemson on an 8-7 (7-2) victory from freshman duo Ronnie Schneider and Jack Murray, after Brayden Schnur and Brett Clark uncharacteristically lost their match, 8-3. Senior Nelson Vick and junior Oystein Steiro finished their doubles match first, 8-3, giving Vick one last chance to cheer his teammates to a doubles victory.

Vick, who was honored on Sunday for his last match in Chapel Hill, agreed that the team played complete matches.

“I was really happy with the way the team played,” he said. “I know that coach focused on us playing a complete match from start to finish, and I really think that we brought that here today.”

Murray, who finished the weekend with two singles and one doubles victory, said he was glad North Carolina was able to send their teammates off well.

“Any time you come out with two wins, you have got to give yourself an A,” Murray said. “We played two really good teams and came out with two good wins. I’m happy that we could get a win for Vick and (James) Coxe on senior day.”

Coxe, who is technically a redshirt junior, will be doing an internship in the fall and will not be able to continue playing.

The Tar Heels easily handled Georgia Tech Friday. The Yellow Jackets were only able to field five players, automatically conceding one singles point and one spot in the doubles, meaning they would have had to have won both doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. Instead, Oystein Steiro and Nelson Vick won their doubles match 8-4, while Brayden Schnur and Brett Clark clinched the point with an 8-3 victory.

North Carolina ran through the singles against Georgia Tech as well, highlighted by wins from Schneider at the No. 1 singles spot (6-4, 7-5), and junior Oystein Steiro at No. 3 (6-2, 6-2).

The singles play for the Tar Heels on Sunday was less dominant but yielded a similar result.

At No. 5 and No. 6, Murray and Vick, made quick work of the Tigers, both with 6-1, 6-1 victories. Steiro, Clark and Schnur, all started out a little bit slower, but each came away with a convincing win.

Schneider, however, seems to enjoy having all eyes on him. The freshman was on the court longer than any other Tar Heel, giving up a 7-6 (9-7) loss in the first set. He then succumbed to heat and exhaustion and lost the Tar Heels' only point of the afternoon, 6-2 in the second set.

Even with two convincing wins, Paul said the Tar Heels cannot become complacent.

“We got a long ways to go,” he said. “We have got a lot more challenges to do. We want to do well in the ACC Tournament, we want to do well in the NCAA Tournament.”