North Carolina
Texas A&M
No. 11 Tar Heels Win Two Over Texas A&M And Elon
February 18, 2006 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 18, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The North Carolina women's tennis team hosted Texas A&M and Elon Saturday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The No. 11 Tar Heels edged the No. 33 Texas A&M Aggies 5-2 and topped the Elon Phoenix 7-0 to improve their record to 9-2.
The Tar Heels won the doubles point against Texas A&M after winning two of three matches. Caitlin Collins and Laura Reichert won the first match against Tiffany Clifford and Seva Iwinski, 8-3. Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long, ranked 11th in the nation according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, clinched the doubles point after coming back from a 6-3 deficit to win 9-7 against Anna Blagodarova and Sarah Foster.
North Carolina saw singles wins at the first, third, fourth and sixth seeds. Clinching the match for the Tar Heels was Laura Reichert at the sixth seed. Reichert battled it out to defeat Marisa Druss in the third set, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.
At the first seed, No. 28 Jenna Long, downed Texas A&M's Anna Lubinsky, 6-3, 6-1. Cruising to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Anna Blagodarova was junior Sara Anundsen. Anundsen upset Blagodarova, who is ranked 51st in the nation, and moved her record to 14-5 on the season. At the fourth seed was freshman Austin Smith who battled competitively to top Nicki Mechem in the third set, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3; Smith improved her record to 18-5.
"It was really important for us to win the doubles point," said head coach Brian Kalbas. "And having Jenna and Sara come back from being down 6-3 gave us a lot of needed momentum going into singles action. And having a couple players out and having Laura [Reichert] stepping in and clinching the match for us as a freshman was really her first opportunity to do that and it was a great accomplishment for her. And we are just very proud of her."
In its second match of the day, North Carolina swept Elon, 7-0. The Tar Heels won all three doubles matches and saw wins from all six seeds in singles. Clinching the match for the Tar Heels was Hanes Harris, who cruised past Elon's Alli Benton, 6-0, 6-0. Harris improved her season record to 7-5 with the win.
At the third seed in doubles action, Laura Reichert and Alexandra Jurewitz cruised to an 8-0 win over Elizabeth Kernodle and Alli Benton. It was the duo's first appearance and first win of the 2006 season. The Tar Heels also saw doubles wins from the No. 11th ranked Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long and the No. 50th ranked Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith, who defeated Elon's Evin Prelec and Kelly Fleck and Elon's Melissa Holland and Whitney Butcher, respectively.
Also seeing singles wins were freshman Meg Fanjoy and Laura Reichert. Fanjoy downed Elizabeth Kernodle 6-1, 6-0, to improve her season record to 10-8. Reichert saw her second singles win of the day; she topped Elon's Melissa Holland, 6-1, 6-0, at the number four seed. Sophomore Alexandra Jurewitz gained her eighth win of the season after defeating Whitney Butcher, 6-0, 6-2.
"We are proud of the players," said head coach Brian Kalbas. "We are proud of Hanes [Harris] and Alex [Jurewitz] and getting them the opportunity to play. We felt like everyone competed real well today."
The Tar Heels are back in action against N.C. State Thursday, Feb. 23. The match begins at 4:00 p.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill.
No. 11 North Carolina 5, No. 33 Texas A&M 2
Doubles:
1. No. 11 Sara Anundsen/Jenna Long (UNC) d. Anna Blagodarova/Sarah Foster (Texas) 9-7
2. Anna Lubinsky/Nicki Mechem (Texas) d. No. 50 Meg Fanjoy/Austin Smith (UNC) 8-3
3. Caitlin Collins/Laura Reichert (UNC) d. Tiffany Clifford/Seva Iwinksi (Texas) 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles:
1. No. 28 Jenna Long (UNC) d. Anna Lubinsky (Texas) 6-3, 6-1
2. Sarah Foster (Texas) d. No. 46 Caitlin Collins (UNC) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
3. Sara Anundsen (UNC) d. No. 51 Anna Blagodarova (Texas) 6-2, 6-2
4. Austin Smith (UNC) d. Nicki Mechem (Texas) 2-6, 7-6, 6-3
5. Tiffany Clifford (Texas) d. Meg Fanjoy (UNC) 7-5, 6-3
6. Laura Reichert (UNC) d. Marisa Druss (Texas) 6-4, 0-6, 6-3 *
Order of finish: 1, 3, 5, 6, 2, 4
*Clinched the match
No. 11 North Carolina 7, Elon 0
Doubles:
1. No. 11 Sara Anundsen/Jenna Long (UNC) d. Evin Prelec/Kelly Fleck (Elon) 8-1
2. No. 50 Meg Fanjoy/Austin Smith (UNC) d. Melissa Holland/Whitney Butcher (Elon) 8-0
3. Alexandra Jurewitz/Laura Reichert (UNC) d. Elizabeth Kernodle/Alli Benton (Elon) 8-0
Singles:
1.No. 26 Jenna Long (UNC) d. Evin Prelec (Elon) 6-1, 6-2
2. No. 48 Caitlin Collins (UNC) d. Kelly Fleck (Elon) 6-1, 6-0
3. Meg Fanjoy (UNC) d. Elizabeth Kernodle (Elon) 6-1, 6-0
4. Laura Reichert (UNC) d. Melissa Holland (Elon) 6-1, 6-0
5. Alexandra Jurewitz (UNC) d. Whitney Butcher (Elon) 6-0, 6-2
6. Hanes Harris (UNC) d. Alli Benton (Elon) 6-0, 6-0 *
*Clinched the match
Players Mentioned
