CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -No. 23 North Carolina (5-2) picked up two wins in men's tennis action at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Saturday, handily defeating Navy and James Madison.
North Carolina easily put away Navy 4-0 in the late morning match. In the evening match, the Tar Heels trounced James Madison University 7-0.
The pairing of Maik Ulrich and Nelson Vick got the Tar Heels off to a fast start in doubles play by taking out Navy's pairing of Blake Daniel and Nicholas Gustche 8-3 at the No. 3 seed. Soon after, Brett Clark and William Parker clinched the doubles point for North Carolina at the No. 2 seed by defeating Navy's duo of Alex Gaines and Austin Jones 8-3. At the No. 1 seed, Esben Hess-Olesen and Oystein Steiro completed a sweep of the doubles matches for the Tar Heels, taking down Calvin Mark and Peter McDonald 7-4.
North Carolina carried their momentum into singles play. At the No. 3 seed, #102-ranked William Parker dismissed Navy's Austin Jones 6-3, 6-2. No. 57-rated Brett Clark found similar success, claiming a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Navy's Peter McDonald at No. 2 singles. Maik Ulrich sealed the match for North Carolina at No. 6 singles by defeating Alex Gaines 6-3, 6-2. Matches at the No. 1, 4, and 5 seeds were consequently suspended.
In the nightcap against the Dukes, North Carolina was led by the strong play of Nelson Vick and Maik Ulrich at the No. 2 seed in doubles play, as the duo cruised past James Madison's Malcolm Peace and Greg Vladimirsky 8-1. Andrew Gores and Oystein Steiro clinched the doubles point for the Tar Heels by edging James Madison's pairing of Bastien Russo and Florent Sentenac at the No. 3 seed, 8-6. The No. 1 doubles match was stopped with North Carolina's duo of William Parker and Brett Clark leading Ryan Pool and Robert Stirling by a score of 7-4.
Singles play yielded more positive results for the Tar Heels as the Tar Heels swept all six matches.
At the No. 5 seed, Taylor Meyer rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Maxi Branth. Maik Ulrich routed Bastien Russo 6-0, 6-4 at the No. 6 seed, and Oystein Steiro maintained North Carolina's momentum by beating Florent Sentenac 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. At the No. 2 seed, #57 Brett Clark took out James Madison's Greg Vladimirsky by a score of 6-0, 7-5. No. 102 William Parker escaped with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 win over Robert Stirling at the No. 3 seed after dropping the second set, and #58 Nelson Vick completed North Carolina's sweep with a 6-2, 7-5 victory at the No. 1 seed.
"I saw some good things, but I still see areas that we have to keep working on," said North Carolina head coach Sam Paul, "William Parker looked really strong even though he dropped a set. Taylor Meyer did a good for us today, [he won in] straight sets. So that was good, I'm happy for both of those guys."
The Tar Heels will be back in action on Sunday, Feb. 24, when they host UT-Chattanooga at 1 p.m. and North Carolina Central at 6:30 p.m. in another doubleheader.
