On Friday afternoon, the No. 11 North Carolina men’s tennis team picked up a ranked win against No. 20 Oklahoma, 4-1, as UNC took a break from ACC play.
What happened?
All three of the doubles pairings for the Tar Heels (11-3, 3-1 ACC) picked up the first points of each of their respective matches and used that momentum to not let up for the rest of the doubles matches.
The combination of first-year Brian Cernoch and sophomore Benjamin Sigouin put on a particularly solid performance, winning 6-1. North Carolina secured another doubles win before the No. 53 ranked duo of senior Blaine Boyden and junior William Blumberg could finish their match, allowing UNC to take a 1-0 lead into the singles matches.
From that point on, the play all afternoon was extremely back and forth. Boyden and sophomore Mac Kiger picked up the first two victories for the Tar Heels at 6-3, 6-0, and 6-4, 6-4, respectively, but Alex Bakshi of Okahoma responded with a win of his own to give the Sooners what would be their only point of the day. Junior Josh Peck snagged the deciding singles win in a three-set result, as the other two remaining matches went unfinished.
Who stood out?
Cernoch faced a difficult matchup against No. 49 Bakshi.
However, Cernoch gave an honorable effort and fought hard in a three-set battle against an opponent that seemed to be a clear favorite heading into the match. Despite losing 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, Cernoch’s performance was impressive.
Boyden, Kiger and Peck all won in singles matches for UNC.
