CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Ninth-ranked North Carolina won the doubles point and cruised to six straight-set singles wins in a 7-0 victory over Wofford on the indoor courts at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Tar Heels played their first match in a week since improving to 3-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play with a 4-0 win at 20th-ranked Louisville last Sunday.
Carolina showed a little rust in doubles but improved to 11-4 overall this season, including 8-1 at home. The Terriers dropped to 4-8.
The match is the final non-conference outing of 2023 for the Tar Heels, whose final nine regular season matches will come against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents.
“Wofford was a good non-conference win for us today,” head coach Sam Paul said afterward. “We could’ve been a little sharper in some things, but we’ll talk about it [in practice] on Tuesday.”
Carolina won the doubles point for the 13th time in 15 matches this season, taking a 1-0 lead. It wasn’t easy, however. Will Jansen and Karl Poling (8-1 as a pair this season) breezed to a 6-1 victory at No. 3 doubles, only to see Wofford tie it by beating the 37th-ranked duo of Brian Cernoch and Benjamin Kittay, 6-3 at No. 2. Cernoch and Kittay trailed, 5-1, and rallied to make it 5-3 before falling short.
The No. 32-ranked team of Casey Kania and Ryan Seggerman improved to 6-3 and clinched the doubles point with a win at No. 1. Kania and Seggerman dropped the first game, then won three in a row to lead, 3-1. Wofford rallied to tie things at 4-4, and the doubles point seemed to be up for grabs.
Kania and Seggerman rallied, taking a 5-4 lead on pretty return winner by Kania. Seggerman then held serve in the final game to win the set, the match and the team point.
Seggerman and Cernoch, the Tar Heels’ top two singles players, cruised in their solo matches to give UNC a 3-0 lead. Seggerman (13-6 and ranked No. 22 this week by the ITA) beat Callum Rendle, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 2 shortly before Cernoch (9-4 and ranked No. 45) picked up a 6-2, 6-1 decision at No. 1 over Ashe Ray.
Peter Murphy won the clincher and made the score 4-0 when he won his match at No. 6 on a beautiful forehand volley from the net. He defeated Max Graham, 6-2, 6-1.
The Tar Heels wrapped up a balanced afternoon with rapid-fire, singles wins by Jansen, Poling and Kittay in the span of minutes. Jansen improved to 10-3 this season with a 6-1, 6-4 win…
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