Clemson Upsets North Carolina In ACC Tournament Semifinals

April 17, 2004

Box Score

CLEMSON, S.C. No. 45 Clemson won its eighth match in a row as the Tiger men’s tennis team upset 13th-ranked North Carolina 4-2 Saturday afternoon in the 2004 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship semifinals at the Millbrook Exchange Park Tennis Center. Clemson is seeded fifth, while North Carolina is seeded first.

It was only the fourth loss of the season for North Carolina which fell to 22-4 overall while Clemson improved to 23-10 and will play in the ACC Championhip match Sunday at 11 a.m.

It was the first time this year the Tar Heels have lost to a team ranked lower than them in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association national rankings.

Clemson won the doubles point as wins at No. 2 and No. 3 staked the Tigers to an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers went up in singles by a 3-0 score as Jarmaine Jenkins won at No. 3 and Ryan Young at No. 6, both victories coming in straight sets. Carolina’s Andy Metzler cut Clemson’s lead to 3-1 by beating Goran Sterijovski 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 2 singles and then sophomore Raian Luchici rallied to beat John Boetsch 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 4 singles to cut Clemson’s lead to 3-2.

Both the No. 1 and No. 5 matches went to three sets as well. UNC’s Nick Monroe rallied in the second set to force a tiebreaker that he won 13-11 over Nathan Thompson but the match was eventually decided at No. 5 as Damiisa Robinson of Clemson came from one set down to defeat UNC’s Geoff Boyd by a 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 tally.

Doubles: (Clemson wins doubles point) 1. Jarmaine Jenkins/Nathan Thompson (CU) led #13 Nick Monroe/Geoff Boyd (UNC), 6-5, suspended 2. John Boetsch/Damiisa Robinson (CU) d. Andy Metzler/Brad Pomeroy (UNC), 8-4 3. Ryan Young/Brett Twente (CU) d. Jonathan Janda/Raian Luchici (UNC), 8-5

Singles: 1. Nathan Thompson (CU) led #32 Nick Monroe (UNC), 6-3, 6-7 (11-13), 5-2 2. Andy Metzler (UNC) d. Goran Sterijovski (CU), 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 3. Jarmaine Jenkins (CU) d. Derek Porter (UNC), 6-1, 6-3 4. Raian Luchici (UNC) d. John Boetsch (CU), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 5. Damiisa Robinson (CU) d. Geoff Boyd (UNC), 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 6. Ryan Young (CU) d. Brad Pomeroy (UNC), 6-4, 6-3

Records: Clemson 23-10; UNC 22-4