Any chances of the third-ranked UNC men’s tennis team taking home its second ITA National Indoor title in three years came to a screeching halt Friday evening in Seattle, when the No. 6 Texas Tech Red Raiders rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Tar Heels in the tournament’s quarterfinals.
It was the first loss of the season for UNC (8-1), which opened the match by taking the doubles point–but ultimately let it slip away by dropping four of the six singles contests.
The nation’s No. 4 ranked player–Tar Heel sophomore William Blumberg–joined Blaine Boyden as the two UNC players to earn victories in the match.
Blumberg needed three sets to defeat Patrick Kypson (3-6, 6-4, 6-1), while Boyden cruised past Barnaby Smith in straight sets (6-3, 7-6) to improve his personal singles record to 5-0 this spring.
With the score knotted at 3-3, however, Texas Tech (7-1) received a clutch three-set win (6-4, 5-7, 6-4) by Arthur Rinderknech over freshman Benjamin Sigouin to clinch the match and hand UNC its first loss of the season.
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The Tar Heels are scheduled to return to action on March 2 when they host Virginia Tech in Chapel Hill for their ACC opener.
Photo via UNC Athletics
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