Coral Gables, Fla. - Miami freshman Carl Sundberg battled back from a third-set deficit over NC State's Derek Stephens to lead the 27th-ranked University of Miami men's tennis team in a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over No. 44 NC State on Friday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Stephens was 7-0 on the season in ACC play before suffering the defeat. NC State led 3-1 in the match but couldn't hang on as the Hurricanes rallied.
Seven of the Wolfpack's 10 losses have been by 4-3 margins, including five of its last six defeats. Three of the Wolfpack's four ACC losses have been by a 4-3 tally, with the lone exception a close 5-2 defeat by No. 10 North Carolina.
Trailing
3-4 in the decisive third set, Sundberg stayed composed and won
three-straight games to clinch the 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory and the match for the Hurricanes (10-6, 3-4 ACC), who snapped a four-match skid with Friday's win.
NC State (11-10, 4-4 ACC) built a 3-1 lead, forcing Miami into a must-win situation in all three remaining singles matches at No. 1, 2 and 4. Vivek Subramanian used a tough 6-2, 7-5 straight-sets victory to earn Miami's second point of the afternoon over the Wolfpack's Nick Cavaday, while fifth-ranked All-American Daniel Vallverdu
bounced back from a first-set loss to defeat No. 64 James McGee, 4-6,
6-1, 6-4, and knot the match at 3-all.
In doubles play, Miami's 35th-ranked
duo of Vallverdu and Sundberg trailed 3-2, but won five-straight games
to claim the 8-3 victory in the top flight over NC State's ninth-ranked
tandem of Jay Weinacker and Nick Cavaday.
At No. 2, NC State's James McGee and Christian Welte led the 36th-ranked pair of David Rosenfeld
and Subramanian 5-0 early, but Miami rallied to tie it at 5-all.
However, the Wolfpack duo would win, 8-6, and the Pack would claim the
doubles point with another win at the No. 3 doubles position from David Chermak and Derek Stephens.
NC State will face No. 9 Florida State on Sunday in Tallahassee, Fla., as its five-match road swing to end the regular season heads into its third match of the string.
No. 27 Miami 4, No. 44 NC State 3
Singles
1. #5 Daniel Vallverdu (UM) def. #64 James McGee (ST), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. Vivek Subramanian (UM) def. Nick Cavaday (ST), 6-2, 7-5
3. David Rosenfeld (UM) def. Jay Weinacker (ST), 6-4, 6-3
4. Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Derek Stephens (ST), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
5. Christian Welte (ST) def. J.C. Whitner (UM), 6-1, 6-1
6. David Chermak (ST) def. Barnabas Carrega (UM), 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 6, 2, 1, 4*
Doubles
1. #35 Daniel Vallverdu/Carl Sundberg (UM) def. #9 Jay Weinacker/Nick Cavaday (ST), 8-3
2. James McGee/Christian Welte (ST) def. #36 David Rosenfeld/Vivek Subramanian (UM), 8-6
3. David Chermak/Derek Stephens (ST) def. Hector Nieto/J.C. Whitner (UM), 8-6
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3*
