HOKIES ARE HELD OFF BY NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA, 7-0

Amber Williams

March 27, 2021

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech (8-6, 4-4 ACC) was shut out by No. 1 North Carolina (13-0, 5-0 ACC) for its second straight 7-0 loss on Friday.

The Tar Heels were predicted to dominate the matchup with five ranked players in singles play and two ranked pairs for doubles, and they did just that.

UNC took the first win on court one for doubles, coming out on top 6-4 over the Hokies. Tech tied the doubles point with a victory over No. 75 duo Mac Kiger and Simon Soendergaard, as Mitch Harper and Alex Ribeiro pulled off the upset with a 6-4 win.

It was a tight matchup on court three, with both teams looking to head into singles ahead. After a back-and-forth game, Rinky Hijikata and Benjamin Sigouin gave UNC the lead with a 7-5 win over Ryan Kros and Michael Shepheard.

To begin the singles rounds, Tech’s Alvaro Ariza and Harper both fell to their UNC opponents 6-4, 6-4 in straight sets to put the Tar Heels up 3-0. No. 41 Brian Cernoch sealed the match for UNC with a straight set win of 6-4, 7-6 over Hugo Maia.

UNC continued its domination on the courts, scooping up the final three singles matches after three sets of play. Despite the Hokies’ effort, the Tar Heels did not let up and barred Tech from earning any points in the match.

The Hokies will take on Duke next on March 28 at home as they seek to end their two-game losing streak.