CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Will Peters won the clinching match at No. 6 singles to lead No. 16 North Carolina to a 4-2 win over No. 20 Florida on Sunday in the consolation match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Cone-Kenfield Indoor Courts at the Chewning Tennis Center.
With the win, the Tar Heels bounced back from Saturday’s loss to Illinois and improved to 3-2 this season. The Gators fell to 3-2.
“After a disappointing loss yesterday, to come back today and fight like we did and pull it out, it was a good win for us,” head coach Sam Paul said afterward.
The Tar Heels won the doubles point to start the day well. They dominated at No. 1, picking up a 6-2 win from Benjamin Kittay and Phillip Jordan over Florida’s Jeremy Jin and Aidan Kim. At the same time, Florida got a 6-3 win from Adhithya Ganesan and Tanapatt Nirundorn over Will Jansen and Karl Poling.
At No. 3, Peter Murphy and Patrick Schoen trailed, 4-2, early but clawed back to tie it at 4-4 and took a 5-4 lead on a strong volley at the net by Schoen. The Gators responded by breaking serve to tie it at 5-all, only to see Murphy and Schoen reply with a break of their own to take a 6-5 lead. With Murphy serving, the Tar Heels gave up just one point in the final game and cruised to a 7-5 win for a 1-0 lead.
In singles action, Jansen was dominant, 6-2, in his first set against Kim, then put him away with a 6-4 win in the second set to give the Tar Heels a 2-0 lead.
The Gators quickly replied and cut the lead to 2-1 with a win over Schoen at No. 4. Trailing 5-4 in the second set to Bonetto, Schoen fought off two match points and broke serve to even the set at 5-5. Bonetto then broke serve for a 6-5 lead won the set, 7-5,
Carolina retook the lead at 3-1 when Jordan beat Nirundorn in straight sets at No. 5, 6-3, 6-4. The Gators cut it to 3-2 when Ganesan beat Kittay at No. 3, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
At No. 6, Peters broke serve to take a 4-2 lead over Johnson in the third and deciding set, eventually winning, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to clinch the team victory for the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels will return to action next Saturday night at Illinois, playing the Illini for the second consecutive weekend.
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Kittay/Jordan 6-2 pic.twitter.com/2XeRAAp9Iy
— Carolina Men’s Tennis 🐏🎾 (@carolinatennis) January 28, 2024
UNC 1 UF 0 Murphy/Schoen clinch 7-5 pic.twitter.com/4AxJoDYYGu
— Carolina Men’s Tennis 🐏🎾 (@carolinatennis) January 28, 2024
UNC 3 UF 1 Jordan 6-3, 6-4 pic.twitter.com/DOyoHMuhFB
— Carolina Men’s Tennis 🐏🎾 (@carolinatennis) January 28, 2024
Will Peters d. Jan Johnson 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to clinches UNC’s 4-2 #ITAKickoff win over Florida pic.twitter.com/Guxnu7sfIH
— Carolina Men’s Tennis 🐏🎾 (@carolinatennis) January 28, 2024