May 17, 2006

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--The North Carolina men's tennis team has advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years and the Tar Heels will play the No. 6 seed Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday at 9 a.m. P.D.T. (12 p.m. E.D.T.) at the Taube South courts on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, Calif. North Carolina enters the match having already tied the school record for victories in a season, sporting a 25-4 record. Ohio State is 27-1 with its only loss this season to Notre Dame. UNC is the tournament's No. 11 seed and the Tar Heels are ranked in that same spot in the Fila/Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. The Buckeyes are the No. 6 seed and are also ranked in that spot in the ITA rankings.

Carolina's Men's Tennis Highlights/Notes In 2006

• The 11th-rated North Carolina men's tennis team has advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship for the first time since the 1993 season. Since the NCAA inaugurated the team tournament format in 1977 this is Carolina's third trip to the Sweet 16. UNC was an NCAA quarterfinalist in 1992 and reached the Sweet 16 in 1993. Prior to going to a team tournament format, the NCAA sponsored a championship in which teams were awarded points based on individual performances by singles players and doubles teams. Under that system, the Tar Heels posted 13 Top 25 finishes and seven Top 10 finishes. The highest finish in UNC history was a tie for third place, accomplished by both the 1947 and 1948 teams.

• Carolina has now been invited to the team championship portion of the NCAA Tournament for seven straight years and 14 times in the last 15 years. The Tar Heels have been in the team tournament of the NCAA Championship in 12 of the 13 years since Sam Paul became the UNC head coach in 1994. The Tar Heels also went to the tournament as a team in 1992 and 1993 when coach Sam Paul was Allen Morris' chief assistant coach at Carolina. The only year in the last 15 years the Tar Heels did not make the tournament was 1999 when they finished 11-14. Carolina also made the Team Tournament in both 1977 and 1978 under coach Don Skakle. Prior to 1977, the NCAA Tournament was a flighted championship with teams earning points as their players advanced through the singles and doubles brackets. The Tar Heels are 10-15 in dual matches in the NCAA Team Tournament since 1977. From 1977-93, teams were selected in brackets of either 16 (1977-1991) or 20 (1992-93) and those teams automatically advanced to the championship site. Regional play began in 1994. Since regional play began UNC reached the final round of the regional in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004 and 2006. UNC lost the regional final match five successive times before breaking through with a 4-1 win over Clemson in 2006, earning its first Sweet 16 spot since 1993.
UNC in the NCAA Team Tournament (10-15)
1977--Lost to Southern California 5-4 in round of 16
1978--Lost to UCLA 7-2 in round of 16
1992--Defeated TCU 5-3 in round of 16; lost to UCLA 5-2 in quarterfinals
1993--Defeated Harvard 5-3 in first round (20 teams participated in NCAA Championship that year); lost to Southern California 5-2 in round of 16
1994--Defeated Clemson 4-2 in regional first round, defeated South Carolina 4-2 in regional semifinal, lost to Georgia Tech 4-3 in regional final
1995--Lost to Clemson 4-3 in regional semifinal
1996--Defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 4-2 in regional semifinal, lost to Texas 4-2 in regional final
1997--Lost to Clemson 4-0 in regional semifinal
1998--Defeated Georgia Tech 4-1 in regional semifinal, lost to South Carolina 4-1 in regional final
2000--Defeated Ball State 4-1 in regional semifinal, lost to Tennessee 4-2 in regional final
2001--Lost to Arkansas 4-0 in regional semifinal
2002--Lost to Virginia Tech 4-2 in regional semifinal
2003--Lost to Oklahoma State 4-0 in regional semifinal
2004--Defeated South Carolina State 4-0 in regional semifinal, lost to Ohio State 4-3 in regional final
2005--Lost to Boise State 4-1 in regional semifinal
2006--Defeated South Carolina State 4-0 in regional semifinal, defeated Clemson 4-1 in regional final.

• Senior Raian Luchici this season became the 13th entrant in coach Sam Paul's tenure as North Carolina's head coach to earn an invitation to the NCAA men's tennis singles championship. The field of 64 singles players was announced by the NCAA Tennis Committee on May 4. Luchici, a senior from Timisoara, Romania, received an at-large bid in singles from the NCAA's Mideast Region. A total of sixty-four players were selected for the singles phase of the NCAA Championships which will begin May 24 and run through May 29 at the Taube Tennis Complex on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. Under Sam Paul's tenure, UNC's entrants in the NCAA singles tournament have included David Caldwell in 1994, David Caldwell and Brint Morrow in 1995, David Caldwell in 1996, Tripp Phillips in 1997, 1998 and 2000, Marcio Petrone in 2002, Trystan Meniane and Nick Monroe in 2003, Nick Monroe in 2004 and Raian Luchici in 2005 and 2006. Luchici is ranked 10th nationally in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association national singles rankings, released May 1. Luchici has an overall singles record this year of 25-8, including a sterling 16-7 mark against nationally-ranked opponents. Since Sam Paul became an assistant tennis coach at UNC in the 1990, Carolina has had 18 entrants invited to the NCAA singles championships. Both David Caldwell (1994-96) and Tripp Phillips (1997-98, 2000) played in the NCAA singles championships three times while mentored by coach Sam Paul. Roland Thornqvist made the NCAA Tournament field three times (1991-93) while Paul was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels.

• UNC will be represented in the doubles phase of the 2006 NCAA Championships by seniors Raian Luchici and Brad Pomeroy. The duo earned the automatic bid from the Atlantic Coast Conference to play in the NCAA Championships. Luchici and Pomeroy are currently ranked No. 5 in the nation by the ITA. The duo has a record this year of 25-10 and they were 16-7 in dual matches. The Tar Heel tandem was ranked No. 1 nationally in doubles on January 10, 2006 and they have remained in the top seven of the rankings in every regular season rating since then. Luchici and Pomeroy are the sixth doubles team to participate in the NCAA championships since Paul became the head coach in 1994. Two other teams competed during Paul's four-year tenure as an assistant coach from 1990-93. Other doubles teams in the NCAA Tournament with coach Paul as the head mentor include David Caldwell and Brint Morrow in 1994, 1995 and 1996, Trystan Meniane and Nick Monroe in 2003 and Nick Monroe and Geoff Boyd in 2004.

• The top five singles players in UNC's lineup this year have all won 20 or more matches during the 2005-06 season and each has a minimum of 17 wins in dual matches. Raian Luchici leads in overall singles wins with 25 and Benjamin Carlotti is one behind with 24. Luchici leads in dual match singles wins with 20 while Brad Pomeroy and Benjamin Carlotti each won 19. Senior Aly Mandour did not permanently enter the singles lineup at the No. 6 spot until North Carolina's match against Maryland on April 7. Mandour is undefeated in dual match play this year with a 9-0 record.

• Each of Carolina's doubles teams this year has won a minimum of 23 matches. Lenny Gullan and David Stone, who play at No. 2, have the most wins with 26. Sebastian Guejman and Derek Porter, who play at No. 3, compiled the best dual match doubles mark at 21-4. • Carolina's top performers this year in three-set matches have been Benjamin Carlotti and Raian Luchici. Luchici is 7-0 in three sets and Carlotti is 6-2. Luchici has 16 wins over nationally ranked opponents this year and Carlotti is second on the team with four wins. The top five singles players on the UNC team all have inning records in tiebreakers this season. Luchici is 5-2, Pomeroy 5-1, Porter 3-2, Carlotti 4-1 and Guejman 4-2.

• As seniors, Raian Luchici, Brad Pomeroy and Derek Porter all reached the 70-win plateau in career singles victories. Luchici heads into the NCAA Tournament with 86 singles wins. Pomeroy has 73 and Porter 70. Porter earned his 70th career win as the No. 3 team point in UNC's victory over Clemson in the NCAA regional final. In doubles, Pomeroy now has 80 career wins and Luchici 78. Pomeroy's 80th win came in the NCAA regional final against Clemson last Sunday.

• North Carolina senior Raian Luchici was named May 11 as the Farnsworth/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Senior Player of the Year folr the Mideast Region. Luchici thus becomes eligible for the ITA's national senior player of the year award. • Based on NCAA seedings that have been announced, two Tar Heel players have already qualified for 2006 All-America status from the Intercollegite Tennis Association. Raian Luchici has qualified for the NCAA Championship in singles as a No. 9-16 seed. He has thus clinched All-America status. Brad Pomeroy and Luchici are seeded No. 5-8 in the NCAA doubles championship and both of those players have also clinched 2006 All-America status.

• Senior Raian Luchici (Timisoara, Romania) was named in April to the 2006 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Team. This was the third successive season that Luchici was named to the All-ACC team since transferring to Carolina after playing at the University of Georgia in his freshman year in 2002-03. North Carolina has had at least one player named to the All-ACC team in every year Sam Paul has served as an assistant coach (1990-93) and as the head coach (1994-2006) at UNC. In fact, the last time Carolina failed to place a player on the All-ACC Team was 1988.

• Senior Raian Luchici was named this year as the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week on three occasions. Luchici won the award on January 23, 2006, February 6, 2006 and April 17, 2006.

• North Carolina has tied the school record for victories in a season during the 2006 campaign. The Tar Heels head into the NCAA Sweet 16 with a record of 25-4. Since UNC started its varsity tennis program in 1908 only one other UNC team has won 25 matches in a season. The 1992 squad finished 25-5.

• Sam Paul is now in his 17th season at North Carolina and his 13th season as the head coach. He came to Chapel Hill as an assistant coach in the fall of 1989 and became head coach following the 1993 season. His career record as head coach is 213-109 including 75-34 in ACC regular season dual matches.

• Sam Paul won his 200th match as the head coach at North Carolina on March 4, 2006 when the Tar Heels defeated Charlotte 7-0 at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

• In 15 of the past 17 years, Carolina's No. 1 singles player has earned All-America honors and/or participated in the singles phase of the NCAA Championships.

• Since 1990 when Sam Paul came to Carolina as assistant coach, UNC has a 128-51 record against opponents from the ACC including matches played in the regular season, ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament. During that time UNC is 17-9 against Clemson, 7-17 against Duke, 16-6 against Florida State, 18-6 against Georgia Tech, 18-1 against Maryland, 1-1 against Miami, 23-0 against NC State, 14-6 against Virginia, 2-0 against Virginia Tech and 13-5 against Wake Forest.

• UNC has achieved a national ranking in the Top 30 of the nation at some point in the season in 16 of the last 17 years.

• When UNC was ranked No. 8 in the FILA/ITA rankings on March 28, 2006, that marked the highest ranking for Carolina in the ITA poll since the final poll of the 1992 season when UNC reached the NCAA quarterfinals.

• The Tar Heels have won 25 ACC championships in school history which is more than any other league school. Duke has won 12 titles, Clemson 11, Maryland two, NC State two and Virginia two.

• The Tar Heels are 1398-346-8 in dual matches all-time and 296-78 in ACC regular season dual matches all-time.

• Carolina's all-time record against its ACC opponents since the Tar Heels started playing tennis in 1908 include 40-23 against Clemson, 84-29 against Duke, 24-8 against Florida State, 267-13 against Georgia Tech, 53-8 against Maryland, 7-19 against Miami, 80-5 against NC State, 72-16 against Virginia, 17-1 against Virginia Tech and 79-11 against Wake Forest.

• Carolina's all-time record against Ohio State, its opponent in the Sweet 16, is 2-1. In the most recent meeting in the 2004 NCAA Tournament regional final in Chapel Hill, N.C., the Buckeyes defeated the Tar Heels 4-3.