UNC men's tennis recovers from loss with victory against Virginia Tech

All Brayden Schnur needed to get by was a little help from his friends.

Down 1-0 against No. 24 Amerigo Contini of Virginia Tech Sunday, No. 18 Schnur got the help he needed from the rest of the North Carolina men's tennis team.

"They got me through that match," Schnur said of his teammates.

After that first set, Schnur pulled out two hotly contested sets to earn a 2-1 victory.

For Schnur, it was a refreshing return to form after a tumultuous outing earlier in the weekend.

It's never easy to adjust to something that's never happened before. Nor is it easy to adjust to something that hasn't happened in years.

Before Friday, Schnur, a freshman, had never lost in a North Carolina uniform, and the team had not lost a match 7-0 since February 12, 2011 at Auburn.

Friday changed both of those.

Schnur got swept 6-2, 6-2 by No. 33 Alex Domijan for his first singles loss of the season, while the No. 6 Tar Heels were swept by No. 7 Virginia.

Yet Schnur and the Tar Heels both recovered Sunday to pull out victories against Virginia Tech.

UNC (16-3, 3-1) beat the Hokies 6-1, and while the Tar Heels' victory was clinched long before the conclusion of Schnur's match, the intensity level seemed to only grow with every volley.

Schnur and Contini were the last to finish their match, playing on for at least 20 minutes longer than any other match.

A few fans left once the victory was clinched — the men's basketball game was in progress and there was a scare involving an armed man on campus, drawing away some worried parents — but those who remained were treated to a back-and-forth duel between two top-30 players.

The Tar Heels' cheering evidently shook Contini. Time and again, the exasperated Contini appealed to the umpire, arguing that the shouting was distracting him. On at least two occasions, Contini turned to the cheering Tar Heels and expressed his frustration.

At one point, Contini mockingly congratulated the team on being "very good cheerleaders," clapping his hands sarcastically in their direction. This drew a warning from the umpire, and prompted the team members to cheer even louder for their suddenly rallying teammate.

Senior Nelson Vick and the other Tar Heels insist they were not breaking any rules, but were instead simply rooting on Schnur. Vick said the intense exchanges began after a controversial call by the umpire.

"At that point, (Contini) turned around and there were words exchanged, from him to us," he said. "From then on, we just responded the way we were supposed to.

"We cheered loud, we didn't say anything to (Contini), because you're not allowed to. The refs were there the entire time to confirm that."

Coach Sam Paul said the Virginia Tech coach had no complaints with the cheering, which he said helped swing the match in Schnur's favor.

"We need to try to get our guys to cheer for our guys," Paul said. "Just support each other when they're out here on the battlefield, to get them through some tough situations.

"But I mean, that's college tennis." 

Cheer after cheer led to point after point from Schnur. 

And soon enough, he was back on the winning track.

sports@dailytarheel.com