University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Georgia Tech
No. 19 Carolina Falls To No. 7 Georgia Tech, 5-2
April 10, 2009 | Women's Tennis
April 10, 2009
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina junior Sanaz Marand scored an impressive 6-1, 6-1 victory over No. 7 Irini Falconi at No. 1 singles, but the No. 19 Tar Heels fell to No. 7 Georgia Tech, 5-2, Friday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Sophomore Jelena Durisic added a straight-set win at No. 5 singles, but the Tar Heels could never bounce back after dropping the doubles point to the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech (16-5, 9-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) got wins at No. 2 doubles from Sasha Krupina and Falconi and No. 3 from Lynn Blau and Amanda McDowell to take the first point of the match. No. 4 Marand and Sophie Grabinski won their eighth straight match and improved to a perfect 6-0 in ACC play with an 8-6 win over No. 31 Christy Striplin and Noelle Hickey at No. 1.
The early portion of singles play was disturbed twice by rain before the teams moved inside to complete the match. Marand's drubbing of Falconi briefly evened the score at 1 before McDowell, the defending NCAA singles champion, finished off No. 63 Katrina Tsang at No. 2, 6-3, 6-0, to push the Yellow Jackets in front to stay.
Blau defeated Meg Fanjoy at No. 6, 6-1, 6-4, to make it 3-1, and No. 54 Hickey clinched the win for Georgia Tech with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Austin Smith at No. 3.
Grabinski, who missed last weekend's matches due to illness, gutted out a tough 7-6 (4) win in a two-hour opening set over No. 49 Striplin at No. 4. However with the dual match already decided and Grabinski still weakened by illness, the Carmel, Ind., product retired at the changeover to make it 5-1 in favor of the visitors.
Durisic then gave UNC (16-8, 6-4 ACC) a final point by holding off Krupina at No. 5, 6-4, 6-4.
Carolina will honor its senior class in its final home dual match Saturday against No. 12 Clemson. First serve is set for 1 p.m. Live scoring will be available at http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/stats/09-live-stats.html.
No. 7 Georgia Tech 5, No. 19 North Carolina 2
Doubles
1. #4 Marand/Grabinski (NC) def. #31 Striplin/Hickey (GT), 8-6
2. Krupina/Falconi (GT) def. #61 Smith/Tsang (NC), 8-4
3. Blau/McDonald (GT) def. Laura Reichert/Fanjoy (NC), 8-5
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. #61 Sanaz Marand (NC) def. #7 Irina Falconi (GT), 6-1, 6-1
2. #19 Amanda McDowell (GT) def. #63 Katrina Tsang (NC), 6-3, 6-0
3. #54 Noelle Hickey (GT) def. Austin Smith (NC), 6-3, 6-3
4. #49 Christy Striplin (GT) def. #95 Sophie Grabinski (NC), 6-7 (4), ret.
5. Jelena Durisic (NC) def. Sasha Krupina (GT), 6-4, 6-4
6. Lynn Blau (GT) def. Meg Fanjoy (NC), 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 6, 3*, 4, 5
Players Mentioned
