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No. 11 Tar Heels Top No. 8 Virginia, 4-3
March 25, 2012 | Women's Tennis
March 25, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --- No. 11 North Carolina got singles wins from Caroline Price, Gina Suarez-Malaguti and Tessa Lyons to hold off No. 8 Virginia, 4-3, Sunday at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar's Head Sports Club. Carolina got what proved to be the decisive point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles and finished out the win thanks to the strength of the bottom of the singles lineup.
Price and Suarez-Malaguti got UNC off to a strong start on court three, rolling past Caryssa Peretz and Molly O'Koniewski, 8-1.
No. 13 Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale then clinched the point on court one, outlasting Erin Vierra and Hana Tomljanovic, 8-6, to take the opening point of the day. The Tar Heel All-America duo raced out to a 6-1 lead before the Wahoo tandem evened the match at six. But Featherston and McHale were able to regroup and win the last two games for the 8-6 victory and the first team point.
Virginia (12-4, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) won the final match as Emily Fraser and Lindsey Hardenbergh bested No. 53 Lyons and Haley Hemm in a tiebreak, 8-7 (3).
From there, Carolina (14-4, 4-0 ACC) rode the bottom of its singles lineup and used a formula that was successful many times in 2011, getting wins on the bottom three courts to secure the dual.
Lyons was first to finish, moving to 11-2 on the spring with a 6-2, 6-1 win over O'Koniewski on court six.
No. 15 Fraser got the hosts on the board next, taking care of No. 33 Zoe De Bruycker on court one, 6-2, 6-1.
But the Tar Heels were able to end the drama soon after, as Suarez-Malaguti and Price finished off straight-set wins to clinch the match and give UNC its ninth straight dual match victory.
Suarez-Malaguti continued her hot play of late, extending her singles winning streak to five in a row with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory over Peretz. Price then finished off the Cavaliers with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Vierra on court four.
Virginia took the last two matches to pull within one at 4-3 as Tomljanovic bested No. 26 McHale, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, and No. 42 Hardenbergh topped No. 118 Featherston in a third-set tiebreak, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 1-0 (8).
Carolina will continue its challenging four-match road trip on Friday, March 30, at noon against No. 21 Georgia Tech before facing No. 22 Clemson on Sunday, April 1, at noon.
No. 11 North Carolina 4, No. 8 Virginia 3
Doubles
1. #13 McHale/Featherston (UNC) def. Vierra/Tomljanovic (UVa) 8-6
2. Fraser/Hardenbergh (UVa) def. #53 Lyons/Hemm (UNC) 8-7 (3)
3. Price/Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Peretz/O'Koniewski (UVa) 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. #15 Emily Fraser (UVa) def. #33 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) 6-2, 6-1
2. #42 Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVa) def. #118 Shinann Featherston (UNC) 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-8
3. Hana Tomljanovic (UVa) def. #26 Lauren McHale (UNC) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
4. #96 Caroline Price (UNC) def. Erin Vierra (UVa) 6-3, 6-4
5. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Caryssa Peretz (UVa) 6-2, 6-2
6. Tessa Lyons (UNC) def. Molly O'Koniewski (UVa) 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 4, 3, 2
Players Mentioned
