No. 11 UNC men's tennis overcomes doubles losses to beat No. 23 Miami, 4-1

The No. 11 North Carolina men’s tennis team (12-3, 4-1 ACC) battled against No. 23 Miami (15-5, 6-1) on Sunday afternoon, ultimately winning 4-1. 

What happened? 

Heading into the match, the Tar Heels had an uphill battle despite the higher ranking. The Hurricanes held an unblemished 6-0 ACC record while UNC was 3-1 with their one loss being to Georgia Tech on March 15. 

UNC started down early with Court Two duo sophomore Benjamin Sigouin and first-year Brian Cernoch getting behind 0-3 within the first 10 minutes. Although they tried to climb out of the hole, they fell first, 6-3. 

Court One was next to finish, home of the No. 53 doubles team junior William Blumberg and senior Blaine Boyden. The teams went back and forth, notching one point after another for the first two points. The Tar Heels started to pull away, leading 4-2. Boyden and Blumberg leveled the doubles playing field, winning 6-3.

All eyes fell on Court Three’s junior Simon Soendergaard and sophomore Mac Kiger. The duo also started at an early deficit, playing catch-up the entire match. However, their spirits never dampened. 

“Let’s go, Si,” Kiger said as he got into position. 

“Here we go, man,” Soendergaard said. 

The two fought to tie the game 5-5, ultimately fell 7-5, giving Miami the lead heading into singles. 

The Tar Heels headed into the next round with a different tempo. Across the board, all courts were a UNC victory in the first set. Courts One through Four won 6-3, Court Five was 6-4 and Court Six won 6-2. 

Kiger had his redemption after falling in doubles. He finished first with a 6-2, 6-4 victory, putting the Tar Heels on the board. Sigouin followed suit, giving UNC the lead with a 6-3 victory of his own in straight sets. 

Boyden furthered UNC’s lead to three with a 6-4, 6-1 win on Court Five. Peck ultimately sealed the victory with a 6-3, 7-5 win. Cernoch and Blumberg remained unfinished in a tiebreak. 

Who stood out? 

Duo Boyden and Blumberg excelled throughout doubles and singles. They extended their doubles record to 8-3. As for singles, No. 26 Blumberg came back onto Court One after not playing Friday afternoon due to injury. He showed no sign of pain and rallied to win 6-3 in the first set and was leading in a tiebreaker before Peck’s win. Boyden had a 6-4, 6-1 victory of his own. 

When was it decided?

It wasn’t until the final play that the match was decided. UNC quickly took the lead in singles with wins from Kiger, Sigouin and Boyden. The other three matches were tied or within one point of each other. As Cernoch and Blumberg went into tiebreaks, Peck won and sealed the Tar Heel victory. 

Why does it matter? 

After three weeks on the road, UNC headed home for a doubleheader weekend. The team was coming off of a 4-1 win over No. 20 Oklahoma on Friday afternoon, and was looking to add another tally in its win column in front of a home crowd. 

When do they play next?

The Tar Heels will return to action on Wednesday at 4 p.m. as they take on No. 2 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem.