A matchup between two of the nation’s top five men’s tennis teams on Wednesday saw the top-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons hold off the No. 5 Tar Heels for a 4-3 victory at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill.

The Demon Deacons (15-1, 4-1 ACC) won the doubles point, then withstood a furious rally in singles play to hand the Tar Heels (13-4, 4-1 ACC) their first ACC loss of the season.

UNC fell behind 3-1 in the team score after Wake Forest took two of the first three singles matches, but wins from sophomore William Blumberg and freshman Mac Kiger evened the score at 3-3.

At that point, it all came down to the match between UNC’s Simon Soendergaard and Wake Forest’s Bar Botzer.

It was the only three-set match of the afternoon, but Botzer was the one who came out victorious–taking the final two sets 7-5, 6-3 after Soendergaard cruised to a 6-1 win in the first set.

“I knew our guys wouldn’t quit and it comes down to the last match, and there we go … a couple points here and there,” Tar Heel head coach Sam Paul said afterwards. “They outplayed us in a couple of spots but I think we learned a lot today about our team. I told our team, ‘The prize is in May.’ We’ve got some more work to do.”

Up Next:

The Tar Heels will return to action on Sunday when they host Virginia in a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament Final won by the Cavaliers.

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics