CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – After a tough battle, the No. 68 Clemson Tigers dropped their second conference-play match over No. 48 UNC as the Tar Heels took the victory, 4-1. In singles, freshman Noa Vukadin secured a victory over a nationally ranked opponent.
“Put ourselves in position with plenty of opportunities today in doubles and singles and were not able to take them as quickly as we had hoped today,” Head Coach Brandon Wagner said. “Some really good competitive fight on some courts but not enough all around to make it happen for us today. We will get back at it very soon and continue to build on some of the good we had this weekend. Next weekend will be an even bigger test for our guys.”
In doubles, the Tigers worked hard to secure two victories over the Tar Heels to take the doubles point. The duo of Wissam Abderrahman and Max Damm battled against the UNC pairing of Will Peters and Karl Poling but the Tar Heels took the first win, 6-3.
On court two, the pairing of Vukadin and Spencer Whitaker tried their best to tie it up but the Tar Heel duo of Peter Murphy and Patrick Schoen took the win, 6-4 to help UNC steal the doubles point.
In singles, the Tigers faced four nationally ranked opponents on the UNC roster. Vukadin, who went up against Poling on court three, defeated the Tar Heel in two sets, 6-4, 7-5. Poling is currently ranked No. 65 in the nation in singles as Vukadin’s victory secured Clemson their first point of the match.
With the doubles point, the Tar Heels needed three singles wins to take the overall victory and with wins on courts five, two and one, UNC sealed the victory over the Tigers, 4-1. Marko Mesarovic and Matt Pitts had to leave their matches unfinished as Pitts was tied in the third set and Mesarovic was close to securing a comeback on court four.
Up next, the Tigers will head to Raleigh, N.C. to take on No. 20 NC State with the match set for Friday, March 8 at 5:30 p.m. For complete coverage of the Clemson men’s tennis team, follow @ClemsonMTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
Clemson 1, UNC 4
Doubles:
1. Phillip Jordan/Benjamin Kittay (NC) vs. Marko Mesarovic/Stewart Aronson (CU) 5-3, unfinished2. Peter Murphy/Patrick Schoen (NC) def. Noa Vukadin/Spencer Whitaker (CU) 6-43. Will Peters/Karl Poling (NC) def. Wissam Abderrahman/Max Damm (CU) 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles:
1. #99 Benjamin Kittay (NC) def. Ryuhei Azuma (CU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-42. #110 Phillip Jordan (NC) def. Wissam Abderrahman (CU) 6-4, 6-43. Noa Vukadin (CU) def. #65 Karl Poling (NC) 6-4, 7-54. Patrick Schoen (NC) vs. Marko Mesarovic (CU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-5, unfinished5. #84 Will Peters (NC) def. Stewart Aronson (CU) 6-2, 6-26. Anuj Watane (NC) vs. Matt Pitts (CU) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 1-1, unfinished
Order of finish: 5,2,3,1
