A team struggling to find its way often looks to its senior leader for guidance.
And Brett Clark, the senior leader for the No. 1 North Carolina men’s tennis team, delivered all he could this weekend.
While the team sputtered in a 5-2 loss to Notre Dame on Friday and recovered for a 6-1 win against Boston College on Sunday, Clark did all he could to will his team to victory. He was undefeated in two doubles and two singles matches.
“I knew coming into the year that I was definitely one of the oldest that was going to be looked to as the leader on the team,” Clark said. “I took everything that I’ve learned from the guys in the past that were former captains and former leaders on the team and just tried to help the guys out in any way I could.”
Against Notre Dame, he did just that. Clark and sophomore Robert Kelly — the No. 1 doubles pair in the country — secured a 6-4 doubles victory over the nation’s No. 12 group for Notre Dame. Yet the Tar Heels lost the remaining two doubles matches to lose the point.
“I just focused on my court,” Clark said. “You can’t get caught up in the emotions on the road, so that was definitely my goal and I thought I did a good job staying in the moment.”
Clark continued his winning ways in singles, downing his opponent in three sets. Junior Ronnie Schneider recorded the only other North Carolina point in the 5-2 loss.
“It was a tough one on Friday,” Kelly said. “It was their senior night, so we knew they were going to be pumped up. They hit us first and we reacted instead of being the first one to throw a punch.”
Coach Sam Paul said the team had to forget about the loss quickly and prepare for Boston College.
