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Florida State
No. 8 Tar Heels Get Past Florida State, 4-2
April 20, 2012 | Women's Tennis
April 20, 2012
CARY, N.C. --- Second-seeded North Carolina outlasted a determined effort from seventh-seeded Florida State, advancing to the semifinals of the ACC Championship with a 4-2 victory Friday at the Cary Tennis Park. The Tar Heels got singles wins from Gina Suarez-Malaguti, Zoe De Bruycker and Shinann Featherston to go with a comprehensive doubles win to clinch the dual.
The Tar Heels got off to a hot start in doubles, as the duo of Haley Hemm and Tessa Lyons cruised to an 8-1 victory on court two to give Carolina the early advantage. Caroline Price and Suarez-Malaguti then followed with their own 8-4 win to give the Heels the afternoon's opening point.
With the doubles outcome decided, the match on court one was halted as Carolina's Featherston and Lauren McHale held a 7-5 advantage.
In singles play, Suarez-Malaguti extended Carolina's lead as she raced to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Florida State's Mia Vriens. The Seminoles quickly countered, as Carolina de los Santos dismissed Tar Heel senior Haley Hemm 6-4, 6-4 to pull Florida State to within one.
De Bruycker, one of Carolina's three All-ACC performers on the year, claimed a 6-3, 7-6 victory on court one, surrendering just three points in the tiebreak to take the win over Seminole Ruth Seaborne and once again give the Heels a two point advantage at 3-1.
Florida State, however, refused to quit. After Carolina earned first set victories on courts two, three, and five, the Seminoles rallied to push all the matches to three sets.
Tar Heel freshman Caroline Price shined early on in her ACC Tournament debut, but eventually fell to Francesca Segarelli 6-4, 4-6, 5-7 on court three.
After Carolina's Featherston and Florida State's Leyla Erkin split the first two sets in tiebreaks, Featherston cruised to a 6-1 third set to secure her win and clinch the match for the Tar Heels. Carolina's Tessa Lyons was leading 6-4, 5-7, 5-1 at the time of the matches' completion.
The Tar Heels await the winner of third-seeded Miami and sixth-seeded Georgia Tech in the semifinals tomorrow at 1:00 PM at the Cary Tennis Park.
No. 8 North Carolina 4, No. 32 Florida State 2
Doubles
1. #3 Featherston/McHale (UNC) vs. Seaborne/Sargeant (FSU), 7-5, DNF
2. #69 Hemm/Lyons (UNC) def. Vriens/Erkan (FSU), 8-1
3. Price/Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Segarelli/de los Santos (FSU), 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1. #37 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) def. Ruth Seaborne (FSU), 6-3, 7-6 (3)
2. #97 Shinnann Featherston (UNC) def. Leyla Erkin (FSU), 7-6 (1), 6-7 (5), 6-1
3. Francesca Segarelli (FSU) def. #94 Caroline Price (UNC), 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
4. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Mia Vriens (FSU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Tessa Lyons (UNC) vs. Amy Sargeant (FSU), 6-4, 5-7, 5-1, DNF
6. Carolina de los Santos (FSU) def. Haley Hemm (UNC), 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 6, 1, 3, 2
Players Mentioned
