March 19, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Competing in its third-consecutive road match, the No. 56 Auburn men's tennis team battled No. 22 North Carolina at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center and fell to the Tar Heels by a highly-contested score of 4-3.
Auburn is now 4-7 overall, while North Carolina is 11-2 on the season.
"It was a great match for us today that could have gone either way," head coach Eric Shore said. "The team fought very hard to put themselves in a good position to win on the road. We had our chances and continue to get better each and every match
"I'm convinced it will pay off in the last half of the season as we finish up this tough part of our schedule. We're moving in the right direction."
The Tar Heels started by sweeping the doubles matches to earn the doubles point. North Carolina's Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy battled No. 8 Tim Puetz and Alex Stamchev at No. 1 doubles, seeing the two pairs compete for points. Ties going back and forth, the Tar Heels eventually broke away and went on to win 8-6.
North Carolina picked up an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles to earn the team doubles point. At No. 3 doubles, Auburn freshmen Tim Hewitt and Lucas Lopasso had a tough fight with Cameron Ahari and Jose Hernandez. The two teams were locked at seven before the UNC team won the tie break to take the 8-7 (2) victory.
Auburn got on the board after the conclusion of No. 1 singles, seeing the 23rd-ranked Puetz top No. 39 Donato in two sets, 6-0, 6-2. The Tigers started to surge and took 2-1 advantage when No. 93 Stamchev picked up a two-set win (6-3, 6-3) over Hardy at No. 3 singles.
The Tar Heels tied the score at two when No. 106 Brennan Boyajian defeated Lopasso (6-3, 6-2) at the No. 4 spot. Auburn, however, came back to go up a point when freshman Andreas Mies picked up a big win over No. 90 Noble at No. 5 singles. Mies easily took the first set, 6-0, and battled from behind to take the second set 7-6 (6).
UNC tied the match at three after the two teams saw a tight match at No. 2 singles. No. 85 Hernandez took set one over Auburn's Hewitt, 6-2, but Hewitt locked the match at one set apiece when he came away with a hard-fought 7-5 set two victory. Hernandez eventually won the match, taking the third set by a score of 6-4.
The home team got their fourth and final point at No. 6 singles. Auburn freshman Michael Wardell and North Carolina's Andrew Crone played an even first set, seeing the two exchange points throughout. With the set tied at six, Crone pushed ahead to win the tie break and the set 7-6(3). Crone went on to take the second set, 6-4.
Auburn closes out its two-week road swing as the team travels to Lexington Sunday to face SEC rival Kentucky at 1 p.m.
At North Carolina
Singles
1. No. 26 Tim Puetz (Auburn) def. No. 39 Clay Donato (UNC); 6-0, 6-2
2. No. 85 Jose Hernandez (UNC) def. Tim Hewitt (Auburn); 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
3. No. 93 Alex Stamchev (Auburn) def. Stefan Hardy (UNC); 6-3, 6-3
4. No. 106 Brennan Boyajian (UNC) def. Lucas Lopasso (Auburn); 6-3, 6-2
5. Andreas Mies (Auburn) def. No. 90 Ryan Noble (UNC); 6-0, 7-6 (6)
6. Andrew Crone (UNC) def. Michael Wardell (Auburn); 7-6 (3), 6-4
Doubles
1. No. 54 Donato/Hardy (UNC) def. No. 8 Puetz/Stamchev (Auburn); 8-6
2. Boyajian/Noble (UNC) def. Mie/Monteiro (Auburn); 8-1
3. Cam Ahari/Hernandez (UNC) def. Hewitt/Lopasso (Auburn); 8-7 (2)
Match Notes
North Carolina 11-2; National ranking #22
Auburn 4-7; National ranking #56
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1, 3, 4, 5, 2, 6)