No. 25 Miami Closes ACC Slate on the Road
April 14, 2011
CORAL GABLES, FLA. – The25th-ranked University of Miami men’s tennis team closes its regular-season on the road this weekend, travelling to No. 19 North Carolina on Fri., April 15 at 3 p.m., and then facing No. 10 Duke in its regular-season finale on Sun., April 17, at Noon.
Miami (14-5, 8-1) rides a five-match win streak into Friday and has won 11 of its last 13 matches. At 8-1, the Hurricanes are in second place in the league standings behind undefeated and top-ranked Virginia (24-0, 9-0).
The Tar Heels (12-6, 7-2) and Blue Devils (16-8, 7-2) enter the weekend in a three-way tie for third place with No. 15 Georgia Tech (16-3, 7-2) – who the Canes defeated on March 12.
Seniors Carl Sundberg, Keith Crowley and Eduardo Pavia have won five-straight singles matches for the Hurricanes, with Pavia becoming the first Cane this season to surpass the 20-win mark with a 21-9 overall record and 7-2 mark in conference play. Pavia and freshman Pedro Ast are 6-1 in doubles competition at No.3, while Crowley teamed with freshman Omar Aly to go 2-0 at No. 2 last weekend.
North Carolina has split its last four matches, but returns to competition following Wednesday’s home win over Duke which came down to a third set between the teams’ No. 1 players for the deciding point, with UNC’s 25th-ranked Jose Hernandez emerging with the victory. The Tar Heels have another ranked player in No. 90 Joey Burkhardt, and a pair of ranked tandems in No. 30 Brennan Boyajian and Hernandez to go with No. 59 Burkhardt and Stefan Hardy.
Duke had won three straight before Wednesday’s loss at North Carolina. The Blue Devils also boast a pair of ranked players in No. 6 Henrique Cunha and No. 9 Reid Carleton, in addition to the two joining forces as the nation’s seventh-ranked duo.
Following this weekend’s competition, the Hurricanes will gear up for the ACC Men’s Tennis Tournament in Cary, N.C., beginning on Thurs., April 21.
