NC State Wolfpack

March 18, 2012

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 66 Jaime Pulgar won his No. 1 singles match against North Carolina’s No. 34 Jose Hernandez on Sunday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, but it wasn’t enough for NC State to overtake North Carolina in its second Atlantic Coast Conference match of the season.

The No. 32 Tar Heels (6-4 overall, 3-0 ACC) won the 5-2 decision by winning the doubles point and the middle four singles matches over the No. 28 Wolfpack (14-4, 0-2).

Pulgar won his first set with a 7-5 tiebreaker, then cruised to a 6-3 decision in the second set to improve his overall record to 13-2 and his ACC record to 1-1.

Wolfpack senior Julian Sullivan won a 7-5, 6-3 decision over North Carolina’s Oystein Steiro at No. 6 for the Wolfpack (14-4, 0-2). Sullivan is 10-2 on the season.

“It was disappointing,” said Wolfpack head coach Jon Choboy after his team’s second straight defeat to a ranked opponent. “Sometimes, I think we get a little too anxious and over-excited. We have to find the right balance of being intense and playing under control.”

Senior Dominic Hodgson lost a third-set tiebreaker to UNC’s No. 90 Brennan Boyajian by a 10-6 margin, after winning an 8-6 tiebreaker in the first set, then falling 6-1 in the second set.

Wolfpack freshmen Robbie Mudge and Austin Powell both dropped straight-set decisions at Nos. 3 and 4, while junior Rafael Paez also fell in straight sets at No. 5.

Pulgar and Mudge combined to win at No. 3 doubles, but the Tar Heels secured the overall doubles point by winning at Nos. 1 and 2.

Choboy’s team heads to Florida for a pair of ACC matches next weekend, visiting Miami at 2 p.m. Friday and Florida State at noon on Sunday.

No. 32 North Carolina 5, No. 28 NC State 2
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center
March 18, 2011
at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Singles
1. No. 66 Jaime Pulgar (NCSU) def. No. 34 Jose Hernandez (UNC), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
2. No. 90 Brennan Boyajian (UNC) def. Dominic Hodgson (NCSU), 6-7 (8-6), 6-1, 10-6.
3. No. 98 Esben Hess-Olesen (UNC) def. Robbie Mudge (NCSU), 6-4, 6-3.
4. Joey Burkhardt (UNC) def. Austin Powell (NCSU), 6-2, 6-1.
5. William Parker (UNC) def. Rafael Paez (NCSU), 6-3, 6-4.
6. Julian Sullivan (NCSU) def. Oystein Steiro (UNC), 7-5, 6-3.
Order of finish: 4, 6, 5, 3, 1, 2.

Doubles
1. Brennan Boyajian/Oystein Steiro (UNC) def. Julian Sullivan/Sean Weber (NCSU), 8-5.
2. Joey Burkhardt/Jose Hernandez (UNC) def. Dominic Hodgson/Matt Thomson (NCSU), 8-3.
3. Robbie Mudge/Jaime Pulgar (NC State) def. Cameron Ahari/Esben Hess-Olesen (NCSU),  8-2.
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3.