A match between a pair of ranked teams on Sunday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill saw the No. 20 Texas Longhorns pull off a close 4-3 victory over the sixth ranked Tar Heel men.
With the score tied 3-3, Texas (9-2) used a three-set singles victory from Harrison Scott over Robert Kelly (6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3) in order to claim the road upset.
UNC (10-3) uncharacteristically dropped the doubles point early in the match, which somewhat set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Texas won all three doubles sets, marking the first time all season that’s happened to the Tar Heels.
Blaine Boyden, Benjamin Sigouin and the nation’s No. 1 ranked singles competitor–UNC sophomore William Blumberg–each racked up singles victories to help the Tar Heels tie the match up.
On the final court, however, Kelly wouldn’t be able to overcome a 5-2 deficit in his final set–handing the Longhorns the upset victory.
“Credit to Texas – they played a good match,” UNC head coach Sam Paul said afterwards. “We knew they had a good team. They jumped on us in doubles – obviously we came out pretty flat, but I knew we’d fight back. Congratulations to Texas.”
Up Next:
The Tar Heels are slated to return to the court on Saturday, March 10 when they travel to Durham to face Duke at 1 p.m.
Photo via UNC Athletics
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