April 2, 2005

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The No. 41 Virginia Tech men's tennis team (13-5, 4-2 ACC) lost to No. 49 North Carolina (14-5, 4-2 ACC), 5-2, in an Atlantic Coast Conference match at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center today.

"We lost a tough battle to a good team today," stated head coach Jim Thompson. "Our guys came out and played well from the start and it showed as we won the doubles point. Some of our guys lost close first sets which might have rattled them up a little but I am proud that they fought back. I have to give credit to UNC for playing hard. Well will work on some things and look to improve for our home match next weekend."

The Tech team of Rod/Sergeev broke the 33^rd-ranked pair of Boyd/Pomeroy at 8-7 in the No. 1 match to clinch the doubles point for the Hokies. Rod/Sergeev won their third ACC match of the season by a score of 9-7. Hokies Puranen/Larregola defeated Guejman/Mandour, 8-5, in the No. 3 match but Diankov/Wilkins dropped their No. 2 match to Janda/Luchici.

In singles action, Albert Larregola (Fr., Lleida, Spain) fell to Geoff Boyd, 6-4, 6-4, in the No. 3 match. The Tar Heels took the lead (2-1) when 78^th-ranked Stephane Rod (Sr., Lausanne, Switzerland) lost his No. 1 match to Raian Luchici, 7-5, 6-4. At No. 4, Angel Diankov (Sr., Yonkers, N.Y.) was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Derek Porter, which put North Carolina up 3-1.

95^th-ranked Arvid Puranen (So., Lulea, Sweden) dropped a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) decision to Brad Pomeroy in the No. 2 match. Pomeroy earned the clinching point (4-1) for UNC. Alexey Sergeev (Fr., Moscow, Russia) gave Tech a point (4-2) after his three-set win over Benjamin Carlotti in the No. 5 match. Matthieu Leboucher (Fr., Le Perreux, France) lost his No. 6 match to Jonathan Janda in the third set super tie breaker.

The Hokies next match is an ACC contest versus No. 26 Florida State on Friday, April, 8 at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center. Live scoring for the match is available at http://www.hokiesports.com/mtennis/live/.

No. 49 North Carolina 5, No. 41 Virginia Tech 2

Singles

1. Raian Luchici (UNC) def No. 78 Stephane Rod (VT), 7-5, 6-4

2. Brad Pomeroy (UNC) def. No. 95 Arvid Puranen (VT), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4)

3. Geoff Boyd (UNC) def Albert Larregola (VT), 6-4, 6-4

4. Derek Porter (UNC) def. Angel Diankov (VT), 6-3, 6-4

5. Alexey Sergeev (VT) def. Benjamin Carlotti (UNC), 5-7, 7-5, 6-2

6. Jonathan Janda (UNC) def. Matthieu Leboucher (VT), 7-5, 5-7, 10-3

Doubles

1. Rod/Sergeev (VT) def. No. 33 Boyd/Pomeroy (UNC), 9-7

2. Janda/Luchici (UNC) def. Diankov/Wilkins (VT), 8-4

3. Puranen/Larregola (VT) def. Guejman/Mandour (UNC), 8-5

Finishing Orders:

Doubles: 2,3,1

Singles: 3,1,4,2*,5,6

* Clinching point