The No. 18 North Carolina men’s tennis team has one goal — to win the NCAA tournament.
With UNC's clean sweep of both Campbell and N.C. Central Universities on Thursday night to open its season, the Tar Heels have made a step in the right direction. Led by graduate transfer Ryan Seggerman and graduate student Brian Cernoch playing on the No. 1 and No. 2 courts respectively, the team recorded back-to-back 7-0 victories.
Looking up and down the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, not a single Tar Heel seemed to be struggling at any point during the night. Instead, consistency reigned supreme. All members of the UNC team won every game, and no players dropped a single set.
Seggerman, who was playing his first minutes of team play as a Tar Heel, attributed both his personal success, and the overall victory, to the support of his teammates.
“I was a little bit nervous and jumpy at the beginning,” Seggerman said. “But it's a good group of guys. (We) got each other pumped up, and once we got rolling, it was good.”
His nerves were not reflected in his play — from the first doubles point against Campbell, to the final singles point of the night against N.C. Central, Seggerman was clearly the one in control.
He demonstrated his excellent control, tactfully placing the ball in far corners of the court and forcing his opponents to run, become weary and make mistakes. And although Seggerman is a new addition to the team, it was clear his fellow teammates had already developed a close connection with him, whooping when he won points and shouting “Go Seggy,” from the balcony above the courts.
Playing directly across from Seggerman, and receiving just as much attention, Cernoch also put on a dominant performance to begin another season with the team.
Throughout the two matches, in which Cernoch played both singles and doubles in each, he never dropped more than a single game per set.
