Resilience. That was the one word the Terrapins men’s tennis players kept saying throughout their match with North Carolina yesterday. Emotions were running high. Hopes of extending their season into the NCAA tournament remained alive. Team pride was palpable throughout the Cole Field House Tennis Courts.
In the end, the team got exactly what it needed.
The No. 70 Terps picked up a pivotal victory against visiting North Carolina yesterday, defeating the Tar Heels, 5-2.
With the Terps (7-14, 4-7 ACC) on the athletics department’s chopping block for the end of this season, they showed everyone watching yesterday that they will not be taken lightly. They aren’t done proving their worth to the school.
“I don’t even care about [the ACC Tournament] right now,” coach Kyle Spencer said. “I want to process this – we played our best, we played here and I’m so proud.
“This win can sit by itself, and we can savor it and we can worry about the ACCs tomorrow.”
The team continued its dominance over the visiting No. 18 Tar Heels (12-5, 9-1) in singles competition, winning four of the six matches.
The weekend wasn’t without some disappointment, however. The Terps fell, 5-2, to the No. 5 Blue Devils (20-4, 9-2) on Friday.
Terps’ freshman Vlad Stefan did show his ability to keep up with better competition in singles in the match, though, upsetting No. 26 Chris Mengel.
Stefan held off a late rally in the first set and dominated in the second to win in straight-sets. The win on Friday was his fifth of the year over a ranked opponent, and improved him to 5-4 in ACC action. Yesterday, Stefan added his sixth win over both ranked opponents and in conference play when he beat the Tar Heels’ No. 103 Brennan Boyajian in three sets.
In a heated third set between Stefan and Boyajian, both Boyajian and North Carolina coach Sam Paul erupted in protest of what they thought was a bad call, disrupting the relatively calm atmosphere of the matches. Stefan went on to win the set, 6-0.
“I’m so proud of the guys, it’s been a long three years here,” Spencer said. “It’s been obviously a really trying year this year. I’m just really happy, I’m just so happy.”
The Terrapins women’s tennis was also in action this weekend, traveling to face the Tar Heels and Blue Devils.
Though the team fell, 5-2, to No. 5 North Carolina on Saturday, No. 28 Cristina Stancu shined bright, earning her 22nd win this year and ninth over a ranked opponent, beating No. 37 Zoe De Bruycker in straight sets.
The Terps (7-14, 1-10) also won the doubles point, as No. 26 Ana Belzunce and Welma Luus toppled the Tar Heels’ Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale, the No. 2 doubles team in the country.
North Carolina (19-5, 9-1) came back with a vengeance, however, winning five of six singles matches to defeat the Terps, 5-2.
In the Terps’ 6-1 loss to Duke (22-2, 11-0) yesterday, only Belzunce was able to pick up a win. Belzunce defeated Duke’s No. 91 Ester Goldfeld in straight sets to earn the team’s only point.
Both teams will now prepare for this weekend’s ACC Tournament in Cary, N.C., with hopes of qualifying for May’s NCAA Tournament.
walker@umdbk.com
