The No. 1 North Carolina men’s tennis team came into its match on Sunday against No. 6 Wake Forest looking to prove it's the dominant force in the ACC this season.
But after jumping out to a 3-1 lead, UNC couldn't close the door, eventually falling to the Demon Deacons 4-3.
The Tar Heels (21-2, 6-2 ACC) took an early lead over Wake Forest (24-4, 8-1 ACC). After junior Ronnie Schneider and redshirt-senior Andrew Gores lost their match 6-1, juniors Brayden Schnur and Jack Murray won their match 6-3. Senior Brett Clark and sophomore Robert Kelly would again clinch the doubles point for their team with a 6-4 victory.
The Demon Deacons would quickly even the score following a straight-set loss by first-year Anu Kodali, 6-0, 6-3. Schnur continued his dominant play this weekend, winning his match in straight sets and giving his team back the lead. Clark followed up with a straight-sets win of his own, leaving the Tar Heels with a 3-1 lead and on the doorstep of their second statement win in a row.
That's when things took a turn.
Schneider found himself in a familiar place — battling in a grueling third set. After taking the first set 6-4 and dropping the second set 6-1, he was looking to rally to give his team the victory. After trailing 5-2, he would pull to within one game before ultimately dropping the deciding set 6-4.
That left only Murray and Kelly with a chance to finish off the victory.
Murray was in a battle with 6-foot-8 Wake Forest redshirt-sophomore Christian Seraphim. Murray took the first set 6-3, and lost a tight second set 7-5. In the third set, Murray appeared too tired to continue to battle the power serve of Seraphim and lost 6-3.
Murray's loss left Kelly the last remaining Tar Heel who could bring home the victory.
