North Carolina
Stanford
No. 4 Tar Heels Fall To No. 1 Stanford In ITA Semis
February 20, 2011 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 20, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --- No. 4 North Carolina saw its run in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships end at the hands of top-ranked Stanford, 4-0, Sunday at the Boar's Head Sports Club. The Cardinal won a tight doubles point before getting a trio of singles victories to advance to Monday's final against No. 2 Florida.
Stanford (8-0) took the first match in doubles, as Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs shutout Jelena Durisic and Tessa Lyons on court two, 8-0. Zoe De Bruycker and Gina Suarez-Malaguti then pulled UNC even with an 8-4 victory at No. 3, setting up the top position to decide the point.
No. 6 Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale were up two breaks at 7-4 and had a pair of chances to serve out the match. But the Cardinal pair of Hilary Barte and Mallory Burdette were up to the challenge, breaking serve twice and winning the final five games to take the match, 9-7, and give Stanford the 1-0 advantage.
The defending national champions took the momentum from doubles and ultimately put the match out of reach with wins on courts one, two and four.
No. 21 Gibbs was first off, defeating No. 119 Durisic on court two in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. No. 2 Barte took the opening set from No. 13 De Bruycker in a tiebreak before closing out the win at the top of the lineup, 7-6, 6-2.
No. 22 Burdette then put the Cardinal into the final with a hard-fought 6-2, 6-7, 6-1 win over No. 75 Featherston at No. 2.
Suarez-Malaguti, McHale and Haley Hemm were all locked up in tight three-setters when the match was halted.
"The match was definitely closer than the score would indicate," head coach Brian Kalbas said. "For Shinann to fight back and force a third set, I thought we put a lot of pressure on Stanford and we were right in the three matches that didn't finish. It was a fun ride for us and I think it only sets us up for more success in the future."
Carolina will resume its grueling non-conference schedule Feb. 26 when the Tar Heels visit Evanston, Ill., to face Northwestern for the second time in eight days.
No. 1 Stanford 4, No. 4 North Carolina 0
Doubles
1. #3 Barte/Burdette (S) def. #6 Featherston/McHale (UNC), 9-7
2. Ahn/Gibbs (S) def. Durisic/Lyons (UNC), 8-0
3. De Bruycker/Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Tan/McVeigh (S), 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1*
Singles
1. #2 Hilary Barte (S) def. #13 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 7-6, 6-2
2. #22 Mallory Burdette (S) def. #75 Shinann Featherston (UNC), 6-2, 6-7, 6-1
3. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) vs. #20 Kristie Ahn (S), 7-5, 2-6, 1-2, DNF
4. #21 Nicole Gibbs (S) def. #119 Jelena Durisic (UNC), 6-2, 6-1
5. #93 Lauren McHale (UNC) led #87 Stacey Tan (S), 2-6, 6-4, 3-2 DNF
6. Haley Hemm (UNC) led Jen Yen (S), 6-1, 2-6, 4-2, DNF
Order of finish: 4, 1, 2*
Players Mentioned
