The No. 2 ranked UNC men’s tennis team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat No. 6 Virginia 4-2 on Saturday evening in Champaign, Illinois–clinching a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championship match.

After Virginia (6-1) won the doubles point and claimed a singles victory on Court Three, the Tar Heels rattled off the next four consecutive singles wins to avoid their first loss of the season.

Simon Soendergaard claimed the first of those four wins in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 against Virginia’s Gianni Ross.

Next up was sophomore Rinky Hijikata, who beat Inaki Montes by a score of 6-3, 7-5. Josh Peck then gave the Tar Heels the lead on the team scoreboard with a hard-fought 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory in three sets.

It was Brian Cernoch who then clinched the semifinal victory for the Tar Heels with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 win over Ryan Goetz.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will take on No. 4 seed Baylor for the national championship on Sunday evening, as they look to match the feat accomplished by the UNC women’s team last week. That match is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics

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