North Carolina
Wake Forest
No. 3 Tar Heels Handle No. 47 Wake Forest, 5-2
March 20, 2011 | Women's Tennis
March 20, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- No. 3 North Carolina won its second Atlantic Coast Conference road match of the season Sunday as the Tar Heels defeated No. 47 Wake Forest, 5-2, at Leighton Stadium. Jelena Durisic, Shinann Featherston, Gina Suarez-Malaguti, Lauren McHale and Tessa Lyons were singles winners for the Tar Heels, who dropped the doubles point for the first time in six matches but rallied to improve to 13-3.
Wake Forest (6-7, 0-3 ACC) grabbed the early momentum when No. 22 Kathryn Talbert and Kayla Duncan rallied to upset No. 5 Featherston and McHale at No. 1 doubles, 9-8 (2) to claim the day's first point for the Demon Deacons. The top Carolina duo raced out to a 7-3 lead and looked to be in control, but Wake would win four straight games and five of the next six to even the match and force a tiebreak.
The two in-state foes split matches on courts two and three to set up the tiebreak, as Durisic and Haley Hemm were victorious at No. 3 and Martina Pavelec and Emilee Malvehy won at No. 2.
But the defending ACC regular season champions weathered the storm and claimed the opening set on four of the top five courts to regain the momentum.
“I think our intensity wasn't quite where it needed to be in doubles, so it was really encouraging to see us come out and compete like we did in singles,” head coach Brian Kalbas said.
No. 61 Featherston evened the dual at 1 with her 6-1, 6-4 win over Malvehy on court three. No. 108 McHale then gave the Tar Heels their first lead of the afternoon with a 6-3, 7-5 triumph over Ryann Cutillo on court five.
Durisic put Carolina in control of the match at No. 2 singles, rallying from 0-4 down to force a first-set tiebreak before holding off Kathryn Talbert in the second set for a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win that gave UNC a 3-1 advantage.
Suarez-Malaguti then clinched the dual on court four, defeating Duncan in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Wake Forest got its lone singles point of the day on court one as No. 30 Pavelec beat No. 14 Zoe De Bruycker, 7-5, 6-4.
With only five courts available, Lyons and Brigita Bercyte were forced to wait to start their match at No. 6 singles, but the wait proved no obstacle for the Tar Heel freshman, as Lyons rolled to a 6-3, 6-3 win.
“Wake Forest is a really talented team and I'm proud of our team for responding to losing doubles in such a positive way,” Kalbas said. “Getting some of those close first sets had a big impact on the match for us.”
Carolina continues its four-match ACC road trip Wednesday afternoon when the Tar Heels travel to Raleigh to face NC State at 2:30.
No. 3 North Carolina 5, No. 47 Wake Forest 2
Doubles
1. #22 Talbert/Duncan (WF) def. #5 Featherston/McHale (UNC), 9-8 (2)
2. Pavelec/Malvehy (WF) def. De Bruycker/Suarez-Malaguti (UNC), 8-4
3. Durisic/Hemm (UNC) def. Mydlowska/Cutillo (WF), 8-6
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1*
Singles
1. #30 Martina Pavelec (WF) def. #14 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 7-5, 6-4
2. Jelena Durisic (UNC) def. Kathryn Talbert (WF), 7-6 (4), 6-3
3. #61 Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. Emilee Malvehy, (WF), 6-1, 6-4
4. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Kayla Duncan (WF), 6-4, 6-3
5. #108 Lauren McHale (UNC) def. Ryann Cutillo (WF), 6-3, 7-5
6. Tessa Lyons (UNC) def. Brigita Bercyte (WF), 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 5, 2, 4*, 1, 6
Players Mentioned
