North Carolina
NC State
No. 10 Tar Heels Defeat No. 40 Wolfpack 6-1
February 23, 2006 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 23, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The No. 10 North Carolina women's tennis team opened its Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play with a win over No. 40 North Carolina State on Thursday. The Tar Heels defeated the Wolfpack, 6-1, at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill. North Carolina moves to a 10-2 record on the season, while the Wolfpack suffered their first loss of the season and moved to an 8-1 record.
The Tar Heels started off the match by winning at all three doubles, giving North Carolina a 1-0 lead over the Wolfpack. The freshman duo of Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith clinched the point with an 8-3 win over N.C. State's Elin Stahl-Johansson and Nandita Chandrasekar. The Tar Heel duo is ranked 48th in the nation and the win marks the 17th doubles victory for the pair.
Playing at the number one seed was Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long, a duo ranked 10th in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. The tandem downed the No. 42 duo of Barbara Orlay and Alejandra Guerra, 8-2; the Tar Heel duo has won their past four matches in a row. The pair moved to a 19-9 record for the season. The number three seed saw action from the third Tar Heel duo ranked in ITA polls, No. 47 Caitlin Collins and Laura Reichert. The pair defeated N.C. State's Shona Lee and Julia Roach, 8-7 (7-3).
Singles action saw wins from five out of six seeds. Clinching the match for the Tar Heels was No. 21 Jenna Long, who downed N.C. State's Barbara Orlay, 6-0, 6-2, at the number one seed. Long is now 18-5 with the win.
Sara Anundsen, Austin Smith and Laura Reichert all cruised past their opponents in singles play. No. 62 Anundsen, at the three seed, topped Nandita Chandrasekar, 6-1, 6-2, improving her record to 15-5. Freshmen Smith and Reichert competed at the number four and six seeds, respectively. Smith beat Alejandra Guerra, 6-1, 6-1; Smith's win pushed the match score to 3-0 and marked her 19th singles win. Reichert defeated Neils Barringer, 6-1, 6-4. The win improved her record to 14-4.
"I was real proud of how Jenna [Long] and Austin [Smith] came out," said head coach Brian Kalbas. "And from start to finish, Sara [Anundsen] really took the first set and also the second set. It shows an incredible effort and focus; especially for Jenna and Austin who played two very talented players."
No. 56 Caitlin Collins competed hard at the second seed against N.C. State's Shona Lee. Collins came out victorious, defeating Lee 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (7). Collins' record now stands at 14-10. Meg Fanjoy put up a valiant effort at the fifth seed, but fell to Julia Roach, 6-1, 1-6, 0-1 (5).
"Overall, it is definitely our most complete effort," said Kalbas. "I was very impressed with our team, the way we started off in doubles. The thing I was the most happy about was the way we took control of the singles matches, all the way down the line. We played very focused and intense throughout the whole first set and kind of put them on their heels a little bit. And for us going into this tough weekend, it is a great confidence booster for us."
Carolina improved its record to 10-2 and 1-0 in ACC play. N.C. State falls to 8-1 and 0-1 in the ACC. The Tar Heels will host No. 6 Northwestern on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 11 a.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
#10 North Carolina 6, #40 North Carolina State 1
Doubles:
1. No. 10 Jenna Long/Sara Anundsen (UNC) d. No. 42 Barbara Orlay/Alejandra Guerra (NC) 8-2
2. No. 48 Meg Fanjoy/Austin Smith (UNC) d. Elin Stahl-Johansson/Nandita Chandrasekar (NC) 8-3
3. No. 47 Caitlin Collins/Laura Reichert (UNC) d. Shona Lee/Julia Roach (NC) 8-7 (7-3)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles:
1. No. 21 Jenna Long (UNC) d. Barbara Orlay (NC) 6-0, 6-2 *
2. No. 56 Caitlin Collins (UNC) d. Shona Lee (NC) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (7)
3. No. 62 Sara Anundsen (UNC) d. Nandita Chandrasekar (NC) 6-1, 6-2
4. Austin Smith (UNC) d. Alejandra Guerra (NC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Julia Roach (NC) d. Meg Fanjoy (UNC) 1-6, 6-1, 1-0 (5)
6. Laura Reichert (UNC) d. Neils Barringer (NC) 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 4, 1, 6, 5, 2
* Clinched the match
Players Mentioned
