The No. 5 UNC men’s tennis team (9-2, 2-0 ACC) traveled to Blacksburg, Va., on Saturday afternoon to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies (8-5, 0-3 ACC) in a crucial conference matchup. The Tar Heels entered the match coming off of a signature win over their Tobacco Road rival, dominating Duke 4-1 in the first outdoor match of the season.
They continued to wreak havoc on the conference on Saturday, walking off the court with a convincing 7-0 victory.
What happened?
UNC jumped out to a swift, 1-0 lead by decisively taking the doubles point to begin the day. Junior Simon Soendergaard and sophomore Mac Kiger combined for the first win of the day, handing the Hokies a 6-1 defeat. Closing out the doubles performance, junior Joshua Peck and first-year Brian Cernoch secured a 6-2 victory to clinch the doubles point.
The Tar Heels never looked back. After facing little resistance in the doubles point, UNC then proceeded to win every set in singles play. The resounding success impressed head coach Sam Paul.
“We played a very good match mentally all the way through,” Paul said. “Up and down the line, singles and doubles.”
After a major rivalry match on Thursday, physical and emotional fatigue was a concern coming into the weekend.
“I was worried about that, to be very honest with you,” Paul said in regards to any possible mental hangover from Duke. “But our guys were locked in from point one, so I was very happy.”
Senior Blaine Boyden has experienced his fair share of collegiate action and was confident that his team would not be hung up on their victory against Duke.