North Carolina
Washington
No. 4 Tar Heels Move Into ITA Quarters
February 18, 2011 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 18, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --- No. 4 North Carolina opened play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships Thursday, topping No. 18 Washington, 4-2, at the Boar's Head Sports Club. Jelena Durisic, Gina Suarez-Malaguti and Haley Hemm were singles winners for the Tar Heels, who advance to Saturday's quarterfinals against No. 20 Northwestern.
UNC (6-1) wasted no time in doubles, taking the opening point of the match with comprehensive wins at positions two and three. Zoe De Bruycker and Jennifer Stone were first off, blanking Aleksandra Krsljanin and Andjela Nemcevic at No. 3, 8-0. Durisic and Tessa Lyons then sealed the point with an 8-2 victory over Samantha Smith and Adrijana Pavlovic on court two.
"We knew that doubles would be key tonight," head coach Brian Kalbas said after the match. "Washington has won a lot of matches this year by getting out in front early, so I was really happy with how strong we came out, especially after having to sit around."
The start of the match was almost three hours behind schedule due to lengthy matches earlier in the day and a power outage at the facility.
Singles proved to be a series of one-sided results, with all five completed matches won in straight sets.
Junior Haley Hemm continued her strong play at No. 6 singles with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Pavlovic to quickly give Carolina a 2-0 lead in the dual. Not long after, Durisic made it 3-0, as the senior disposed of Smith at No. 3, 6-1, 6-0.
"After doubles we talked about how important it would be for someone to step up and set the tone for us, and Jelena and Haley were outstanding," Kalbas said. "Washington is so strong at No. 1 and No. 2, I thought it was crucial that we not let them get too much momentum."
Washington (7-2) showed its strength at the top of the lineup with a pair of impressive victories on courts one and two. No. 26 Venise Chan topped No. 75 Shinann Featherston, 6-3, 6-0, at the No. 2 position before No. 6 Denise Dy took care of No. 13 Zoe De Bruycker at No. 1, 6-2, 6-2, pulling the Huskies within one at 3-2.
But UW could not handle the depth of the Tar Heels, and Suarez-Malaguti finished off Nemcevic at No. 4, 6-3, 6-2, to put Carolina into the quarterfinals. Lauren McHale was up a set and a break on court five, 6-4, 4-2, when the match was halted.
"Pichi (Suarez-Malaguti) and Lauren did a nice job of grinding out tough first sets and then continuing to play well and close out their matches," Kalbas said.
UNC will now face Northwestern Saturday in a rematch of last year's National Indoor final. The Wildcats held off the Tar Heels a year ago in Madison, Wis., 4-2.
"Northwestern has won this tournament the last two years and was in the finals the year before, so you kind of know coming in that if you want to win it, you're going to have to go through them," Kalbas said. "Hopefully we can play well and exact some revenge from last year."
First serve in tomorrow's showdown is set for 4 p.m. Live scoring is available at VirginiaSports.com.
No. 4 North Carolina 4, No. 18 Washington 2
Doubles
1. #6 Featherston/McHale (UNC) vs. #9 Chan/Dy (UW), DNF
2. Durisic/Lyons (UNC) def. Smith/Pavlovic (UW), 8-2
3. De Bruycker/Stone (UNC) def. Krsljanin/Nemcevic (UW), 8-0
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. #6 Denise Dy (UW) def. #13 Zoe DeBruycker (UNC), 6-2, 6-2
2. #26 Venise Chan (UW) def. #75 Shinann Featherston (UNC), 6-3, 6-0
3. #119 Jelena Durisic (UNC) def. Samantha Smith (UW), 6-1, 6-0
4. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Andjela Nemcevic (UW), 6-3, 6-2
5. #93 Lauren McHale (UNC) vs. Aleksandra Krsljanin (UW), DNF
6. Haley Hemm (UNC) def. Adrijana Pavlovic (UW), 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 3, 2, 1, 4
Players Mentioned
