The No. 2 North Carolina men’s tennis team (12-1, 2-0 ACC) won 4-0 against No. 7 N.C. State (10-4, 1-1 ACC) on Wednesday evening, extending its winning streak against the Wolfpack to seven years.
What happened?
UNC got an early edge after winning the doubles point. No. 13 duo senior William Blumberg and sophomore Brian Cernoch took Court One (6-3), defeating No. 17 duo Yannai Barkai and Tadas Babelis, finishing the first match of the game.
However, on Court Two, No. 4 pair junior Mac Kiger and senior Simon Soendergaard dropped the set, 6-3, to N.C. State’s Robert Turzak and Alexis Galarneau.
Finishing third, duo junior Benjamin Sigouin and first-year Rinky Hijikata took victory on Court Three, (6-3), defeating Collin Shick and Rafa Izquierdo Luque to give UNC its first point of the day.
In the singles, No. 53 Sigouin added the first point to the team score, defeating No. 92 Babelis in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, extending UNC’s lead 2-0.
No. 5 Cernoch took the second win for UNC, defeating Martin Rocens 6-4, 6-3, and senior Josh Peck, ranked No. 85, following closely behind to win his match against Izquierdo Luque in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, for a third and final singles point to give UNC the match victory.
Who stood out?
Despite having a rough match last Sunday against Virginia Tech, Sigouin put his head in the game, winning both his doubles (6-3) and singles (6-3, 6-1). He finished first in his singles against N.C. State’s Tadas Babelis, ranked No. 92.
