University of North Carolina Athletics
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Northwestern
No. 1 Carolina Topples No. 2 Northwestern
March 23, 2010 | Women's Tennis
March 23, 2010
CHAPEL HILL --- Playing as the nation's top-ranked team for the first time in program history, North Carolina scored a 5-2 win over No. 2 Northwestern on a blustery Tuesday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The Tar Heels got singles wins from Sanaz Marand, Jelena Durisic, Sophie Grabinski, Shinann Featherston and Gina Suarez-Malaguti to overcome an early deficit after the Wildcats won the doubles point.
Just as it did when the teams met in the ITA National Indoor final in February, the doubles point came down to the top position. The No. 38-ranked duo of Katrina Tsang and Featherston got UNC off to a quick start, defeating Samantha Murray and Elena Chernyakova at No. 2, 8-4. Northwestern (13-2) answered with an 8-5 win from Stacey Lee and Linda Abu Mushrefova at No. 3 to put the focus on court one.
No. 10 Grabinski and Marand ran out to a 4-1 lead at No. 1, and were still up 7-6 with a chance to serve for the match. But the Northwestern duo of Lauren Lui and Maria Mosolova broke to make it 7-all and eventually completed the comeback and won in a tiebreak, 9-8 (6).
The setback did not appear to affect the Tar Heels, however, as the hosts ran out to early leads on four of six singles courts.
The match was quickly tied at 1 after Grabinski finished her 6-3, 6-2 win over NU's Kate Turvy at No. 4, but the Wildcats regained the lead with No. 11 Mosolova's 6-2, 6-4 victory over No. 42 Tsang at the top of the lineup.
From there it was all Carolina, as the Tar Heels (14-3) took the final four singles matches to score their fifth top-10 win of 2010.
No. 47 Marand pullled UNC back even at the No. 2 position with a thorough 7-5, 6-1 victory over No. 43 Murray.
But it was the bottom of the lineup, a Tar Heel strength for much of the season, that finally put Nortwestern away. Suarez-Malaguti, playing singles for the first time in more than a month, made it 3-2 with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Elena Chernyakova at No. 6 before Featherston clinched the victory with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Lee at No. 5. The Rockaway Park, N.Y., sophomore won for the fifth time in six matches and improved to 13-2 in dual match play.
Durisic rallied from a set down at No. 3 to give Carolina its final point of the afternoon with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Lui. The win was an impressive one for the Torrance, Calif., junior as it was Lui's first dual match loss of the season.
Carolina ascended to the top of the ITA rankings just moments before the match started, giving the Tar Heels the top spot for the second time in four weeks. With the previous No. 1 ranking coming during an off week, Tuesday marked UNC's first opportunity to take the court as the nation's best squad.
UNC will be back in action this weekend for a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference matches, as the Tar Heels host Boston College Saturday at 11 a.m. and Maryland Sunday at 1 p.m.
No. 1 North Carolina 5, No. 2 Northwestern 2
Doubles
1. Lui/Mosolova (NU) def. #10 Grabinski/Marand (UNC), 9-8 (6)
2. #38 Tsang/Featherston (UNC) def. Murray/Chernyakova (NU), 8-4
3. Lee/Abu Mushrefova (NU) def. Ffriend/Hemm (UNC), 8-5
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. #11 Maria Mosolova (NU) def. #42 Katrina Tsang (UNC), 6-2, 6-4
2. #47 Sanaz Marand (UNC) def. #43 Samantha Murray (NU), 7-5, 6-1
3. Jelena Durisic (UNC) def. Lauren Lui (NU), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
4. Sophie Grabinski (UNC) def. Kate Turvy (NU), 6-3, 6-2
5. Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. Stacey Lee (NU), 6-4, 6-1
6. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Elena Chernyakova (NU), 7-5, 6-1
Order of finish: 4, 1, 2, 6, 5*, 3
Players Mentioned
