|
SC State men eliminated in NCAA
Tennis playoffs
May 13, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.-- The No. 11-ranked North Carolina men's
tennis team advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round for
the second time in the last three years as the Tar Heels stormed
past Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion South Carolina
State 4-0 at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center Saturday morning.
No. 24 Clemson (22-9) meets No. 42 South Carolina (14-14) in
the second NCAA first round match Saturday at 12 noon with
the winner advancing to play North Carolina Sunday at 1 p.m.
North Carolina improves to 24-4 while South Carolina State's
season ends at 19-7.
Coach Sam Paul's Tar Heels earned a hard-fought doubles point
to claim an early 1-0 lead in the match. At No. 3 doubles,
UNC senior Derek Porter and UNC junior Sebastian Guejamn made
quick work of Dmitry Lomakin and Sergey Plotnikov 8-1. At No.
2 doubles, Carolina sophomores Lenny Gullan and David Stone
jumped out a 4-1 lead over Dragan Bisercic and Parantap Chaturvedi
only to see the match progress to a five all tie. UNC's double
tandem then won the last three games of the match, breaking
the Bulldogs in the 12th game and going on to win 8-5. The
number one doubles match was a series of back-and-forth games
with each team consistently winning two games at a time, resulting
in what seemed to be an inevitable tiebreaker which never started
after the match on court two ended.
After doubles took 90 minutes to play, the singles action
was done just 65 minutes later. Carolina won the first set
on all six courts and then it became a contest to see which
players which finish their matches first. Senior Aly Mandour
dispatched Sergey Plotnikov 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 6 flight..
Another senior, Derek Porter, matched Mandour's score at No.
3 singles in a win over Dragan Bisercic.
UNC then clinched the match at No. 2 singles as senior Brad
Pomeroy became the third fourth-year Tar Heel to win in singles
by beating Dmitry Lomakin 6-2, 6-0.
Doubles (pro sets, team winning at least two of three matches
earns one team point)
No. 1 #5 Raian Luchici / Brad Pomery (UNC) vs. Ionut Hurdue
/ Andrew Mawire (SCSU), 8-8, supsended
No. 2 Lenny Gullan / David Stone (UNC) d. Dragan Bisercic /
Parantap Chatirvedi (SCSU), 8-5
No. 3 Sebastian Guejman / Derek Porter (UNC) d. Dmitry Lomakin
/ Sergey Plotnikov (SCSU), 8-1
(North Carolina claims doubles point to lead match 1-0)
Singles (best of three sets)
No. 1 #10 Raian Luchici (UNC) led Andrew Mawire (SCSU), 6-2,
5-1, suspended
No. 2 Brad Pomeroy (UNC) d. Dmitry Lomakin (SCSU), 6-2, 6-0
No. 3 Derek Porter (UNC) d. Dragan Bisercic (SCSU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) d. Ionut Hurdue (SCSU), 6-4,
suspended
No. 5 Sebastian Guejman (UNC) Parantao Chaturvedi (SCSU), 6-3,
2-1, suspended
No. 6 Aly Mandour (UNC) Sergey Plotnikov (SCSU), 6-1, 6-2
Records: North Carolina 24-4; South Carolina State 19-7
|