North Carolina
Tennessee
Women's Tennis Falls Short In Tiebreakers, Losing to Tennessee 5-2
March 21, 2001 | Women's Tennis
March 21, 2001
CHAPEL HILL--The No. 6 University of North Carolina women's tennis team fell to No. 9 Tennessee. The Tar Heels rallied to three sets in four of their six singles matches. This is Carolina's third loss of the season to top 10-ranked teams in the country. Other losses include to No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 5 Florida. The Tar Heels record drops to 9-3.
UNC clinched the doubles point with wins from the No. 1 and 3 doubles teams. The duo of Kendrick Bunn and Kate Pinchbeck defeated Castevlli/Gates 8-5 and Erin Niebling and Courtney Zalinski defeated Tennessee's Noel/Wiski 8-6.
Sophomore Kate Pinchbeck was the lone Tar Heel to win her singles match. At No. 3 Pinchbeck defeated Vilmarie Castellvi 6-3, 6-1, improving to 11-2 playing No. 2 and 3 singles this spring.
The other Tar Heels singles were not as successful, however four of the five matches were lost in three sets. The clinching match was at No. 6 with Lady Vols freshman Brooke Cordell rallying from a 6-3, 4-1 deficit to clinch the match.
No. 11-ranked sophomore Marlene Mejia and junior Koenig won their first sets before dropping the following two. Lee Bairos and No. 95-ranked Kendrick Bunn dropped their first sets, then rebounded to win the second before losing in the third.
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist was proud of his team's effort. "Sometimes there is a difference between losing and not winning and even though we did not win today, we did not lose either. I am just as proud of this team today, as I was when we won those close matches earlier in the season."
Carolina takes the week off until their next match on Saturday March 31st against Florida State. The home match will be played at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center at 1 p.m.
SINGLES
#1 Alison Ojeda (UT) def. Marlene Mejia 6-7, 6-2, 7-6
#2 Kim Gates (UT) def. Julie Rotondi 6-3, 6-3
#3 Kate Pinchbeck def. Vilmarie Castellvi (UT) 6-3, 6-1
#4 Agnes Wiski (UT) def. Lee Bairos 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
#5 Crystal Cleveland (UT) def. Kendrick Bunn 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
#6 Brooke Cordell (UT) def. Kristin Koenig 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
DOUBLES
#1 Bunn/Pinchbeck def. Castevlli/Gates (UT) 8-5
#2 Cleveland/Ojeda (UT) def. Bairos/Rotondi 8-3
#3 Niebling/Zalinski def. Noel/Wiski (UT) 8-6
