No. 1 Virginia Wins 4-3 at No. 20 North Carolina

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The top-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team ran its ACC win streak to 53 consecutive matches with a 4-3 win over No. 20 North Carolina Friday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The Cavaliers improve to 26-1 overall and 6-0 in the ACC as they recorded their 23rd consecutive victory.

Virginia opened the match by sweeping the three doubles contests from the Tar Heels (12-4, 3-2 ACC). Sanam Singh (Chandigarh, India) and Houston Barrick (Brentwood, Tenn.) opened the match with an 8-2 win over Brennan Boyajian and Cameron Ahari at the No. 2 position. At No. 1, Michael Shabaz (Fairfax, Va.) and Drew Courtney (Clifton, Va.) clinched the opening point with an 8-6 win over Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy. Lee Singer (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and Jarmere Jenkins (College Park, Ga.) completed the doubles sweep with an 8-5 win over Andrew Crone and Jose Hernandez at No. 3.

In singles, the Cavaliers pushed their lead to 3-0 with a pair of straight set wins. Barrick downed Crone 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 singles and Shabaz defeated Donato 7-6, 6-3 at the top position. The Tar Heels answered with three wins to tie the match at 3-3. Boyajian topped Jenkins at No. 4, Hernandez defeated Singh at No. 2 and Hardy won at No. 3 over Courtney. With the match on the line, Singer posted a 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 win over Zach Hunter to seal the 4-3 win for the Cavaliers.

“I thought Carolina played an excellent match,” “I was disappointed in some areas that we need to improve on. We will make those adjustments as we get ready to play tough Duke team on Sunday. I have no doubt our best still in front of us.”

The Cavaliers return to action on Sunday as they visit No. 27 Duke. The Blue Devils (11-5, 4-0 ACC) are the only other team unbeaten in conference play.

No. 1 Virginia 4, No. 20 North Carolina 3

Doubles:

1. #11 ShabazCourtney (UVa) def. #17 Donato/Hardy (UNC) 8-6

2. #21 Barrick/Singh (UVa) def. Boyajian/Ahari (UNC) 8-2

3. #58 Singer/Jenkins (UVa) def. Crone/Hernandez (UNC) 8-5

Singles:

1. #4 Michael Shabaz (UVa) def. #51 Clay Donato (UNC) 7-6(4), 6-3

2. #78 Jose Hernandez (UNC) def. #9 Sanam Singh (UVa) 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-2

3. Stefan Hardy (UNC) def. #53 Drew Courtney (UVa) 7,6(6), 4-6, 6-2

4. #108 Brennan Boyajian (UNC) def. #39 Jarmere Jenkins (UVa) 7-6(5), 6-4

5. #95 Houston Barrick (UVa) def. Andrew Crone (UNC) 6-2, 6-4

6. #77 Lee Singer (UVa) def. Zach Hunter (UNC) 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-2

Order of Finish:

Doubles: 2,1,3

Singles: 5,1,4,2,3,6