March 30, 2012
Chapel Hill, N.C. – Georgia Tech’s Juan Spir and Juan Melian rallied the Yellow Jackets back from a 3-1 deficit with wins at No. 2 and 4 singles, but All-American Kevin King fell in three sets at No. 1 as 24th-ranked North Carolina held off Tech, 4-3, Friday at the Cole-Kenfield Tennis Center.
The loss snapped a three-match conference winning streak for the Yellow Jackets, who fell to 8-8 overall, 3-3 in the ACC, and face a road match at 6th-ranked Duke Sunday. The Tar Heels improved to 8-5 overall, 5-1 in conference play with .
The match came down to King, ranked 11th nationally, and Jose Hernandez, ranked 34th. King won the first set, 7-6, in a tiebreaker, but Hernandez came back to win the second, 6-1. In the third set, Hernandez broke King’s serve after six deuce points with the set tied, 2-2, and King double faulted to go down two breaks at 4-2. Hernandez then served out the match.
Tech won the doubles point and got ahead early, but North Carolina captured the first three singles matches to finish, all in straight sets, and grab a 3-1 lead. William Parker defeated Jacket freshman Eduardo Segura, 6-3, 6-1, 98th-ranked Esben Hess Olesen beat Tech senior Dusan Miljevic, 6-4, 6-0, and Oystein Steiro toppled freshman Sebastian Lopez, 6-3, 6-3.
Melian started Tech’s comeback with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Joey Burkhardt at No. 4 singles. Spir tied the match against No. 90 Brennan Boyajian, getting up off the deck after trailing 6-5 in the first set, and 30-0 in the 11th game, to earn a 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 7-5 victory.
King and Spir, ranked 7th nationally in doubles, defeated UNC’s 29th-ranked team of Burkhardt and Hernandez Friday, 8-6, while Miljevic and Segura defeated Parker and Alex Rafiee, 8-6.
No. 24 North Carolina 4, No. 62 Georgia Tech 3
Doubles
1. #7 King/Spir (GT) def. #29 Burkhardt/Hernandez (UNC), 8-6
2. Boyajian/Steiro (UNC) def. Hundal/Lopez (GT), 8-6
3. Miljevic/Segura (GT) def. Parker/Rafiee (UNC), 8-6
Order of finish: 1,2,3
Singles
1. #34 Jose Hernandez (UNC) def. #11 Kevin King (GT), 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2
2. Juan Spir (GT) def. #90 Brennan Boyajian (UNC), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-5
3. #98 Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) def. Dusan Miljevic (GT), 6-4, 6-0
4. Juan Melian (GT), def. Joey Burkhardt (UNC), 7-5, 6-2
5. William Parker (UNC) def. Eduardo Segura (GT), 6-3, 6-1
6. Oystein Steiro (UNC) def Sebastian Lopez (GT), 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 3, 6, 4, 2, 1
