Despite having home court advantage, the No.17 North Carolina men’s tennis team were defeated by the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes, 4-0, Sunday in the ITA Kickoff championship.
What happened?
The opening doubles match featured two high-powered duos with sophomore Logan Zapp and first-year Casey Kania of UNC battling the top-ranked doubles team in the country: graduate Matej Vocel and junior Robert Cash. Despite the Tar Heels winning one game, Vocel and Cash showcased their No. 1 ranking in dominant fashion, winning 6-1.
The Tar Heels evened up the doubles scoring when senior pair Brain Cernoch and Mac Kiger upset No. 2 Justin Boulais and James Trotter. In the deciding doubles match, the Buckeyes came out on top in a back-and-forth battle opening up the team scoring at 1-0 in favor of Ohio State.
Heading into the singles match, the Buckeyes boasted four ranked players, three more than UNC.
The Buckeyes’ strong start continued when Vocel, the fifth ranked singles player, defeated senior Benjamin Sigouin in two sets, earning OSU their second team point of the afternoon. Vocel’s powerful serves helped him open up early leads in both sets en route to his match win.
Senior Henry Lieberman’s attempt to earn the Tar Heels their first point of the day came up short when Boulais defeated him in two sets. After a tight first set, ending in Boulais winning 6-4, the junior from Ontario defeated Leiberman handedly in the second set increasing the Buckeye lead to 3-0.
After digging themselves into an early hole, the Tar Heels continued to struggle.
Fresh off his upset defeat in the doubles matches, Trotter looked to bounce back and reclaim his top tier play. His 6-4 win in the second set against Zapp earned him the individual victory, and clinched the championship for OSU.