North Carolina
Florida
No. 4 Tar Heels Fall At No. 5 Florida, 6-1
March 10, 2010 | Women's Tennis
March 10, 2010
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- No. 4 North Carolina dropped just its second match of the season Wednesday when the Tar Heels fell to No. 5 Florida, 6-1, at the Ring Tennis Complex. Senior Sophie Grabinski got the lone point for UNC with her win over Joanna Mather at No. 5 singles, but Carolina was unable to rally after dropping a tight doubles point. The victory was Florida's 76th consecutive home win, and the Gators improved to 12-2 on the year, while the Tar Heels slipped to 13-2.
Florida took the early lead in doubles with an 8-5 win at the No. 3 position before a pair of tiebreaks decided the point. The No. 39 duo of Katrina Tsang and Shinann Featherston pulled Carolina even with a 9-8 (3) victory at No. 2 over No. 34 Lauren Embree and Anastasia Revzina.
A showdown of top-10 tandems at the top of the lineup resulted in the Gators taking the 1-0 advantage, with No. 6 Marrit Boonstra and Allie Will outlasting No. 8 Grabinski and Sanaz Marand, 9-8 (2). The Tar Heel seniors won five straight games to dig out of a 5-1 hole and take a 6-5 lead, but the duo was unable to complete the comeback.
The hosts took the momentum from the doubles win and captured the opening set on all six singles courts. The Gators would secure five straight-set victores, with No. 15 Embree's 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 32 Tsang at No. 1 sealing the victory.
Only Grabinski was able to rally and take a set, bouncing back from a 6-1 setback in the first to top Mather in the second, 7-5. Grabinski faced several match points in the second sets, breaking Mather at 4-5 to extend the match and eventually force a tiebreak. Mather would ultimately retire, giving Grabinski the victory and getting UNC on the scoreboard.
Carolina will continue its Spring Break trip Saturday with a rematch against No. 9 Baylor at 1 p.m. The Tar Heels topped the Lady Bears, 5-2, on Feb. 13 in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
No. 5 Florida 6, No. 4 North Carolina 1
Doubles
1. #6 Boonstra/Will (UF) def. #8 Grabinski/Marand (UNC), 9-8 (2)
2. #39 Tsang/Featherston (UNC) def. #34 Embree/Revzina (UF), 9-8 (3)
3. Hitimana/Mather (UF) def. Ffriend/Suarez-Malaguti (UNC), 8-5
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. #15 Lauren Embree (UF) def. #32 Katrina Tsang (UNC), 6-2, 6-4
2. #11 Allie Will (UF) def. #48 Sanaz Marand (UNC), 6-2, 6-4
3. #62 Marrit Boonstra (UF) def. Jelena Durisic (UNC), 6-3, 7-6 (3)
4. #105 Anastasia Revzina (UF) def. Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 6-4, 6-3
5. Sophie Grabinski (UNC) def. Joanna Mather (UF), 1-6, 7-5, ret.
6. #116 Caroline Hitimana (UF) def. Shinann Featherston (UNC), 7-5, 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1*, 3, 5, 6
Players Mentioned
