North Carolina
Florida State
Top-Ranked Tar Heels Storm Into ACC Final
April 24, 2010 | Women's Tennis
April 24, 2010
CARY, N.C. --- Top-seeded and No. 1-ranked North Carolina advanced to its first Atlantic Coast Conference final since 2003 with a comprehensive 4-0 win over fifth-seeded Florida State Saturday at the Cary Tennis Park. Jelena Durisic, Gina Suarez-Malaguti and Sophie Grabinski were victorious in singles play after the Tar Heels won matches on courts one and two to take the doubles point.
In a rematch of the teams' regular season finale from just six days ago, Carolina (26-3) once again got wins from its top two doubles pairs to gain the early lead.
After not finishing in yesterday's win over Wake Forest, Grabinski and Durisic wasted no time in their 8-1 win over Federica Suess and Jessica Sucupira at No. 2.
The Tar Heels then wrapped up the doubles point on court one as the senior tandem of Sanaz Marand and Katrina Tsang topped FSU's Lauren McCreless and Francesca Segarelli, 8-5.
UNC quickly made it 2-0 once singles play began as Grabinski continued her fine form of late with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Suess on court five. The win was the 20th of the dual match season for the fifth-year senior against just three losses.
After having her last two matches halted early, Durisic was off next after an impressive victory at No. 3. The Torrance, Calif., junior rolled off four straight games to take the opening set and cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 101 Segarelli to push Florida State (14-10) to the brink of elimination.
With Carolina down a set on two of the other three remaining courts, it was Suarez-Malaguti who put the Tar Heels into Sunday's final.
After gutting out a tough first set in a tiebreak, the Pembroke Pines, Fla., freshman did not drop a game in the second, putting away Sargeant at No. 4, 7-6 (1), 6-0. Suarez-Malaguti is now 13-1 since entering the Tar Heel singles lineup with nine of her wins coming against ACC opponents.
Carolina will now look to win its first ACC title since 2002 and sixth in program history against seventh-seeded Georgia Tech. The title match is set for Sunday morning at 11 at the Cary Tennis Park. For more information, visit http://www.theacc.com/championships/10-tennis-championship.html.
No. 1 North Carolina 4, No. 14 Florida State 0
Doubles
1. Marand/Tsang (UNC) def. McCreless/Segarelli (FSU), 8-5
2. Grabinski/Durisic (UNC) def. Suess/Sucupira (FSU), 8-1
3. Featherston/Ffriend (UNC) vs. Sargeant/Rybakova (FSU), DNF
Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles
1. #22 Sanaz Marand (UNC) vs. #25 Lauren McCreless (FSU), DNF
2. #51 Katrina Tsang (UNC) vs. Katie Rybakova (FSU), DNF
3. Jelena Durisic (UNC) def. #101 Francesca Segarelli (FSU), 6-2, 6-2
4. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Amy Sargeant (FSU), 7-6 (1), 6-0
5. Sophie Grabinski (UNC) def. Federica Suess (FSU), 6-1, 6-1
6. Shinann Featherston (UNC) vs. Jessica Sucupira (FSU), DNF
Order of finish: 5, 3, 4
Players Mentioned
