April 4, 2008
Chapel Hill, NC - The 10th-ranked UNC Tar Heels lost a hard fought match against the nation's top-ranked team Friday afternoon, battling all the way to a close finish in a 5-2 loss to Virginia. While the loss was the Tar Heels' first in ACC play and snapped their 11 match win streak, they established themselves as a true contender for the ACC title after playing the current conference leaders close in almost every match.
The Cavaliers gained an early edge by taking the doubles point from the Tar Heels, giving them a 1-0 lead. However, the competition was close, as both of Virginia's ranked doubles teams won by a narrow combined margin of five games, and the 42nd-ranked team of Stefan Hardy and Clay Donato pulled out a 9-8 win after winning the tiebreaker 7-3.
Going into singles play, the Tar Heels had their backs up to the wall, already at a 1-0 deficit and facing three top-35 players. However, North Carolina didn't back down, as they won three of the six first sets played. After nationally 1st-ranked Somdev Devvarman won at the first singles spot and Ted Angelinos did the same at the sixth spot, UNC began to mount a comeback, sparked by 83rd-ranked Chris Kearney's 6-2, 6-2 win over Sanan Singh. But with the match at 3-1 and Virginia only needing one win to clinch, Michael Shabaz prevailed over Taylor Fogleman in a marathon three-set match to deliver for the Cavaliers.
The match wasn't entirely wasted for the Tar Heels, though, as after the match was clinched Stefan Hardy put the finishing touches on a brilliant, 7-6(5), 7-5 upset over 9th-ranked Dominic Inglot. Hardy, who is ranked 73rd himself, was undeterred by 6'4" Inglot's blazing first serves in playing a smart match that only required two sets to win.
North Carolina's next contest will come against 32nd-ranked Virginia Tech on Sunday. The match will be played at 1 PM ET at the Tar Heel's home, the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
#1 Virginia 5, #10 North Carolina 2
Records: Virginia 22-0 (8-0), UNC 15-4 (5-1)
Doubles
#1 Devvarman/Huey [#1] (UVA) d. Fogleman/Kearney [#10] (UNC) 8-6
#2 Hardy/Donato [#42] (UNC) d. Inglot/Shabaz (NCSU) 9-8(3)
#3 Angelinos/Singer [#45] (UVA) d. David Stone/Tristan Heinrich (UNC) 8-5
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
#1 Somdev Devvarman [#1] (UVA) d. Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) 6-1, 6-1
#2 Stefan Hardy [#73] (UNC) d. Dominic Inglot [#9] (UVA) 7-6(5), 7-5
#3 Treat Huey [#31] d. Clay Donato (UNC) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0(5)
#4 Chris Kearney [#83] (UNC) d. Sanan Singh (UVA) 6-2, 6-2
#5 Michael Shabaz (UVA) d. Taylor Fogleman (UNC) 2-6, 6-0, 6-2
#6 Ted Angelinos (UVA) d. Will Plyler (UNC) 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: 1, 6, 4, 5, 2, 3
