May Madness is here, hotter and louder than ever.
The No. 6 North Carolina men’s tennis team hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tennis Championships for the fifth year in the row on May 12 and 13 in 90-plus degree weather, but the extreme heat didn’t keep the UNC tennis family from filling the stands.
The Tar Heels kicked off the weekend with a 4-0 sweep against Campbell on Saturday afternoon. This was the second time UNC has faced the Camels this season, the first being during indoors where North Carolina breezed past them with a 7-0 victory.
Even though UNC had a nearly perfect win, the team faced its challenges through heat and injury. A few key players were missing from the lineup Saturday afternoon — senior Robert Kelly for both singles and doubles while first-year Mac Kiger missed singles. With these two out on Saturday, sophomore Josh Peck and junior Anu Kodali were able to make NCAA appearances.
North Carolina clinched the doubles point on Saturday thanks to 6-4 wins by double teams junior Blaine Boyden and first-year Ben Sigouin and sophomore Simon Soendergaard and Kiger. In singles, sophomore William Blumberg breezed by with a 6-0, 6-2 win, bumping UNC’s lead up to two. Soendergaard pushed the lead to three with a 6-1, 6-4 victory of his own with teammate Boyden finishing a few seconds later clinching the Tar Heel win with a whooping 6-4, 6-0 victory.
The Tar Heels continued their hunt for the NCAA Championship on Sunday, and once again, they were faced with hot temperatures. In attempt to protect the athletes from the heat forecasted for later in the day, the match was set to start at 10 a.m. instead of the previous 2 p.m. match time.
North Carolina faced No. 20 Tennessee, who had swept UNCW the previous morning. Despite having a confident win under their belt, Tennessee fell 4-0 to UNC after a hard-fought battle in the round of 32. Boyden, Blumberg and Kelly all had notable singles wins during Sunday’s match.
"(Kelly) played one of the best matches he's played in a while," head coach Sam Paul said. "I'm so happy for him to finish out here, and happy for all of our guys. We played pretty well in singles up and down the line. We're happy to be moving forward."
The Tar Heels secured the doubles point, but not without a little trouble. Kelly and Kiger returned for the Mother’s Day match and both played doubles and singles. The duo of Soendergaard and Kiger finished first with a 6-1 loss to their Tennessee opponents, leaving UNC with no choice but to win on Courts One and Two. Blumberg and Kelly came out with a 6-2 win, and the focus turned to Boyden and Sigouin on Court Two.