North Carolina
Stanford
Women's Tennis Season Ends in California
May 17, 2002 | Women's Tennis
May 17, 2002
Stanford, Calif. ----- The seventh-ranked University of North Carolina women's tennis team ended its season on Friday with a 4-1 loss to No. 3 Stanford in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. Carolina, which advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in school history, finished the season 25-5. The 25 wins are the most since 1982.
The Tar Heels failed to capture the doubles point for the first time in three NCAA Tournament matches, falling at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles by slim margins. Carolina got off to a great start with an 8-6 win by the No. 3 doubles tandem of Lee Bairos and Kate Pinchbeck. However, Stanford's Lauren Kalvaria and Gabriela Lastra defeated Marlene Mejia and Julie Rotondi, 9-7 at the No. 1 position and Lauren Barnikow and Erin Burdette outlasted UNC's Kendall Cline and Aniela Mojzis at the No. 2 position by a 9-8 score.
Down a point heading into singles, Carolina needed to win four of the six singles matches for a victory. However, the Tar Heels earned just one point in singles with Rotondi's 6-0, 6-3 win over Barnikow at the No. 3 spot. It was Rotondi's 19th consecutive victory.
Stanford's Emilia Anderson gave the Cardinal a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Kendall Cline. Rotondi's win cut the lead to 2-1, but Stanford's Keiko Tokuda defeated Lee Bairos, 6-4, 6-1 and Stanford was within one point of claiming victory. Lastra provided the final point with a 6-3, 6-3 win over UNC's Kate Pinchbeck at the No. 2 position. It was just the second loss of the season for Pinchbeck, who is now 27-2.
Stanford, the tournament host, advances to face Georgia in the semifinals. The team portion of the tournament is over for Carolina, but Kate Pinchbeck, Marlene Mejia and Julie Rotondi will all participate in the NCAA Individual Championships beginning on Monday, May 21 in Stanford, Calif.
Doubles
No. 1 Lauren Kalvaria/Gabriela Lastra (Stanford) def. Marlene Mejia/Julie Rotondi (UNC), 9-7
No. 2 Lauren Barnikow/Erin Burdette (Stanford) def. Kendall Cline/Aniela Mojzis (UNC), 9-8
No. 3 Lee Bairos/Kate Pinchbeck (UNC) def. Keiko Tokuda/Story Tweedle-Yates (Stanford), 8-6
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1 (Stanford wins doubles point)
Singles
No. 1 Lauren Kalvaria (Stanford) vs. Marlene Mejia (UNC), suspended
No. 2 Gabriela Lastra (Stanford) def. Kate Pinchbeck (UNC), 6-3, 6-3*
No. 3 Julie Rotondi (UNC) def. Lauren Barnikow (Stanford), 6-0, 6-3
No. 4 Erin Burdette (Stanford) vs. Aniela Mojzis (UNC), suspended
No. 5 Keiko Tokuda (Stanford) def. Lee Bairos (UNC), 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Emilia Anderson (Stanford) def. Kendall Cline (UNC), 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 3, 5, 2
*Clinching match
