Miami Men's Tennis wins third in-a-row, beating Wolfpack, 5-2

Coral Gables, Fla.–The No. 28 University of Miami men’s tennis team (12-5, 6-1 ACC) defeated No. 59 NC State, 5-2 on Sunday.  The win pushed the `Canes winning streak to three and is their ninth win in the last 11 matches.

The Hurricanes took the doubles point behind strong efforts at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. In No. 3 doubles, freshman Pedro Ast and Senior Eduardo Pavia took care of NC State’s Ivan Sanchez Gomez and Julian Sullivan, 8-6.

Seniors Christian Blocker and Carl Sundberg, playing at No. 2 doubles, defeated NC State’s Jaime Pulgar and Dave Thomson, 8-6, to take the doubles point for UM.

“Eduardo and Pedro were great in their doubles match, really tough from the first point,” head coach Mario Rincon said. “Carl and Christian brought that same effort, and both teams got big doubles wins for us.”

The win gives Sundberg sole possession of eight place on Miami’s all-time doubles wins list.  Sundberg now has a career record of 63-48 in doubles.

In singles, after NC State had leveled the match with a win on court five, Senior Keith Crowley got another big win at No. 2 singles, defeating Pulgar, 6-4, 6-4.  Crowley moved into 24th all-time in UM history for singles victories with the victory

Blocker added to the Hurricanes’ lead with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 1 singles, as UM went up 3-1.

Then it was Sundberg on court three that helped seal the victory for the surging `Canes.  Up against Sanchez-Gomez, Sundberg took the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.  The win was Sundberg’s 66th as a Hurricane, the 16th most all-time.

“We played well in doubles, then got on top of them early in singles.  Today was another great ACC road win for us,” Blocker said. “We still have a lot of potential to go far this season, and we’re going to continue to work to go far this season.”

Miami now returns home for two more ACC matches next weekend.  They will take on Maryland on Friday, and then Boston College on Sunday.  The match vs. Boston College will be Miami’s senior night, honoring five UM seniors.

“We are looking forward to playing Maryland and Boston College next week, and we are really excited for senior night,” Rincon said.  “This team is really on a roll, and I hope our fans come out next weekend and see us.”