After a pair of hard fought wins by a score of 4-2–one over No. 10 Georgia on Friday, and another over No. 4 Cal on Saturday–the fifth-ranked UNC men’s tennis team inched closer to defending its ITA National Indoor Championships title.
Playing in Charlottesville, Virginia, junior Robert Kelly clinched the Tar Heels’ place in the tournament semifinal with a three-set singles victory (6-4, 4-6, 6-2) over Cal’s Florian Lakat.
To get there, all they had to do was go through a pair of teams that were each in the Final Four during last year’s NCAA Tournament.
The win over Georgia in Friday’s first round allowed the Tar Heels to get a bit of revenge as well, since the Bulldogs were the team that eliminated UNC in the Quarterfinals of that event.
Although Georgia and Cal became the first two teams to take the doubles point from the Tar Heels this year, head coach Sam Paul’s team advanced each time on the strength of four singles victories–most notably a 6-3, 7-6 win by Ronnie Schneider (ranked No. 16 in the country) over Georgia’s Wayne Montgomery (No. 15) on Friday.
UNC has now won 10 straight matches to open its 2017 campaign, with a second consecutive ITA Indoor title well within reach.
Sunday’s semifinal against the winner of Virginia and UCLA will ultimately determine who goes on to Monday’s championship match.
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