The indoor courts at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill played host to a top-25 showdown Saturday evening, with sophomore Josh Peck taking the third set of the night’s last singles match to help lift No. 3 UNC past No. 12 Illinois by a score of 4-3.

After dropping the doubles point, the Tar Heels were forced to win four of the six singles contests in order to improve to 6-0 on the season.

Even with the nation’s No. 2 player–UNC sophomore William Blumberg–suffering an upset at the hands of unranked Aleks Vukic, head coach Sam Paul’s squad was able to bunker down and pull off the most impressive win of its season so far.

Blumberg’s loss came in three sets, and let Illinois tie the team score at 3-3 following three straight UNC wins by Blaine Boyden, Robert Kelly and Benjamin Sigouin.

This left Peck as the Tar Heels’ last chance to pull out the victory, which he did with a 6-2 win in the third set.

As a result, Illinois dropped to 3-1 and became the first of the two teams to suffer a loss this season.

“It was a heck of a match,” Paul said afterwards. “We know Illinois has a very good team, and it’s always a battle with those guys. I’m proud of the character of my team to lose a close doubles point like that and come back.”

Up Next:

Another tough match awaits the Tar Heels, as they’ll face No. 16 TCU in Chapel Hill on Tuesday.

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics

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