North Carolina Defeats Clemson 7-0

April 13, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The 11-ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heels defeated Clemson 7-0 in a men’s Atlantic Coast Conference tennis match at Chapel Hill, NC Sunday afternoon.

North Carolina is now 19-4 on the season and 9-1 in the ACC. Clemson is 15-19 overall and 1-10 in league play.

The match also marked the final regular-season ACC match for Clemson head coach Chuck Kriese, who has led the Tigers to some of the greatest moments in the history of ACC tennis since he took over as Clemson head coach in 1975. Kriese is retiring at the end of this season. Kriese led Clemson to 10 ACC Tournament championships and he is the winningest ACC coach in history in dual match victories. He has led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament 24 times and has finished in the NCAA Final Eight seven times and the NCAA Final 16 a total of 12 times.

The match opened with the Tar Heels winning the doubles point to go up 1-0. No. 10-ranked Chris Kearney and Taylor Fogleman of UNC were the first off the court after beating Ike Belk and Rok Bizjak at No. 1 doubles 8-5. At number-three doubles, Clemson’s Kevin Galloway and Gera Boryachinskiy defeated Lenny Gullan and Andrew Crone 8-6.

The doubles point then came down to the number-two spot where No. 42-ranked Clay Donato and Stefan Hardy defeated the Tigers’ Carlos Alvarez and Kevin Fleck 8-6.

In singles, 83rd-ranked Kearney of UNC defeated Bizjak 6-1, 6-1 at the number three spot. Fogleman was the next winner as he defeated Clemson’s Fleck 6-2, 6-3 at number five singles. The Tar Heels then clinched the match as 73rd-ranked Hardy outlasted Belk 7-5, 7-6 (4) at number two singles.

UNC then upped its lead to 5-0 as Benjamin Carlotti defeated Kevin Galloway at number-six singles, 6-3, 7-6.

Clemson will participate in the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament April 17-20 in Orlando, FL in the Tigers’ next action.

No. 11 North Carolina 7, Clemson 0 Doubles #1 No. 10 Taylor Fogleman/Chris Kearney (UNC) d. Ike Belk/RokBizjak (CU), 8-5 #2 No. 42 Stefan Hardy/Clay Donato (UNC) d. Carlos Alvarez/Kevin Fleck (CU), 8-6 #3 Gera Boryachinskiy/Kevin Galloway (CU) d. Andrew Crone/Lenny Gullan (UNC), 8-6 Order of Finish: #1, #3, #2* *Clinched Point

Singles #1 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) d. Carlos Alvarez (CU), 6-4, 6-3 #2 No. 73 Stefan Hardy (UNC) d. Ike Belk (CU), 7-5, 7-6 (4) #3 No. 83 Chris Kearney (UNC) d. Rob Bizjak (CU), 6-1, 6-1 #4 Clay Donato (UNC) d. No. 122 Gera Boryachinskly (CU), 3-6, 7-6 (1), 6-0 #5 Taylor Fogleman (UNC) d. Kevin Fleck (CU), 6-2, 6-3 #6 Will Plyler (UNC) d. Kevin Galloway (CU), 6-3, 7-6 (4) Order of Finish: #3, #5, #2*, #1, #4, #6 *Clinching Match