UNC Wins Doubles Point, Cruises Past Cavaliers

And the Tar Heels did not want to test that trend.

So getting the 2-1 win in the doubles portion of their match against Virginia was crucial. It gave UNC the early lead on their way to a 5-2 victory in their second ACC match of the season.

The Tar Heels won their first Friday against Maryland 7-0.

"I thought we played well in a lot of spots against Maryland," UNC coach Sam Paul said. "I am really happy for our seniors today. Virginia had beaten us the last four years. This is a good win."

The Tar Heels (6-5, 2-0 in the ACC) split its first two doubles matches Sunday and won the tiebreaking match in a tiebreaker. The No. 2 team of Marcio Petrone and Greg Archer triumphed 9-8

(7-3) to earn the Tar Heels a point.

The singles matches began with Virginia

(6-3, 1-2) quickly taking a 2-1 lead on straight-set victories by 12th-ranked Brian Vahaly against Petrone at No. 1 and Huntley Montgomery against Nicholas Monroe at No. 2.

After UNC's Greg Archer tied the score with a 6-1, 6-4 win, his teammate Trystan Meniane, at the

No. 4 seed, used dropshots and volleys to beat the slower Michael Duquette, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) and give his team a 3-2 lead.

As the Tar Heels' Chad Riley trailed by a set in his match, the No. 3 seed singles match between Cheatwood and Virginia's Tommy Croker looked like it would determine the outcome of the match.

In the first set, with the score tied 4-4, Croker held a 30-40 lead as he aimed to break Cheatwood's serve.

During the crucial point, Cheatwood left a drop shot too long, and Croker flipped a crosscourt forehand out of Cheatwood's reach.

The ball seemed to graze the line as it scooted past Cheatwood. Cheatwood called it long, and Croker responded by asking, "Are you serious?"

Cheatwood nodded as he stared at the ground.

Cheatwood won the next two points and then the set by breaking Croker's serve in the following game with the help of two double-faults. In the second set, Croker jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Cheatwood climbed back to 5-4 but could not complete the rally, losing the set 6-4.

The third set was the best of the match, pitting the fiery emotion of Croker against the steely nerves of Cheatwood. Cheatwood took a 4-1 lead but let Croker tie the match 4-4 with a litany of unforced errors.

"At that point, he had the momentum," Cheatwood said. "I knew I had to regroup."

It was Croker's turn to serve, and he took a 15-0 lead. Cheatwood answered with his most spectacular plays of the match, rifling three backhand winners down the line.

After three deuces, Cheatwood won a long point with a lob that scraped the top of Croker's racquet. Croker smoked a serve on the next point, which Cheatwood weakly returned, but Croker matched that weakness with his volley.

Cheatwood sized up the ball and stroked a crosscourt backhand winner to take a 5-4 lead. He won his ensuing service game easily, clinching the match for himself and UNC.

"I have dropped a couple matches like that this year," Cheatwood said. "It felt good to finally pull one of those out."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.