University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Clemson
No. 8 Carolina Fights Past No. 23 Clemson, 5-2
April 1, 2012 | Women's Tennis
April 1, 2012
CLEMSON, S.C. --- No. 8 North Carolina improved to 16-4 on the season and a perfect 6-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play Sunday when the Tar Heels defeated No. 23 Clemson, 5-2, at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center. The victory was the 11th in a row for UNC, who returns home to host Florida State and Miami April 6 and 7.
Carolina took the early lead after winning what proved to be one of the most tightly-contested doubles points of the season.
On court two, No. 71 Haley Hemm and Tessa Lyons fell behind 7-4 to Beatrice Gumulya and Klara Vyskocilova before rallying for a 9-7 victory. Conversely on court three it was the Clemson duo of Monika Kochanova and Klara Vyskocilova who came back from a 7-4 deficit to beat Gina Suarez-Malaguti and Caroline Price, 9-7.
That left court one to decide the point, and it would take a tiebreak to do it. No. 17 Josipa Bek and Keri Wong, last season's NCAA doubles runners-up, opened up an early 5-3 lead. But No. 4 Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale got a key break of Wong's serve and two holds to regain the lead at 6-5. The teams traded games until 8-all before the UNC tandem prevailed in a marathon 12-10 tiebreak.
Clemson (11-8, 4-3 ACC) managed to respond early in singles, however, winning the opening set on each of the top four courts. Only a pair of first-set rallies by Carolina's Price and Lyons prevented the Tigers from taking the lead on all six courts.
Price trailed 5-4 in the opening set on court five to Kolzer before winning the frame and finishing out the straight-set victory, 7-5, 6-3.
Lyons' comeback was even more dramatic, as the Wallingford, Pa., sophomore trailed 4-0 to Kochanova on court six before forcing a tiebreak. Lyons took the tiebreak 7-4 and dropped just two games in the second set for a 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory that put Carolina up 3-0 in the dual.
The Tigers got their two points next with wins from Gumulya on court four and Vyskocilova on court three, setting up a pair of three-setters at the top two positions to decide the match.
Both McHale and No. 30 Zoe De Bruycker dropped their opening sets to senior opponents before recovering to force a third. De Bruycker completed her 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Bek on court two to clinch the win, while moments later McHale took three of the final four games from No. 55 Wong on court one for a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 triumph.
The win gave Carolina a sweep of the Georgia Tech-Clemson trip for the second time in as many chances. UNC also kept pace with fellow league unbeatens Miami and Duke.
Carolina returns home for the first time in three weeks Friday when the Tar Heels host Florida State at 11 a.m. In addition, the Tar Heels will be playing mini tennis at the Polk Place quad from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, April 2, and giving out posters to students and fans.
No. 8 North Carolina 5, No. 23 Clemson 2
Doubles
1. #4 Featherston/McHale (NC) def. #17 Bek/Wong (CU), 9-8 (10)
2. #71 Lyons/Hemm (NC) def. Gumulya/Kölzer(CU), 9-7
3. Kochanova/Vyskocilova (CU) def. Suarez-Malaguti/Price (NC), 9-7
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*
Singles
1. #33 Lauren McHale (NC) def. #55 Keri Wong (CU), 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
2. #30 Zoe De Bruycker (NC) def. Josipa Bek (CU), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
3. #88 Klara Vyskocilova (CU) def. #100 Shinann Featherston (NC), 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
4. Beatrice Gumulya (CU) def. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (NC), 6-4, 5-7, 6-1
5. #98 Caroline Price (NC) def. Romy Kölzer (CU), 7-5, 6-3
6. Tessa Lyons (NC) def. Monika Kochanova (CU), 7-6 (4), 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1
Players Mentioned
