University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Clemson
No. 5 Tar Heels Fall To No. 24 Clemson, 4-3, In Regular Season Closer
April 9, 2006 | Women's Tennis
April 9, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Ending the regular season at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels fell to the No. 24 Clemson Tigers, 4-3. In a tough battle between the two Atlantic Coast Conference teams, the match came down to the last set of the last match. Maria Brito clinched the match for Clemson at the four seed over Austin Smith. Senior Tanja Markovic put up a great performance on senior day for the Tar Heels, winning in both doubles and singles. North Carolina ends the regular season with a record of 23-5 and 7-3 in the ACC, while the Tigers now stand at 13-6, 6-3.
The Tar Heels jumped off to a 1-0 lead over the Tigers wining at all three doubles seeds. No. 7 Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long downed the ninth-ranked duo of Carol Salge and Federica van Adrichem, 8-3. Anundsen and Long closed out the regular season with a record of 31-5. At the two seed, Caitlin Collins and Tanja Markovic defeated No. 56 Daniela Alvarez and Alexandra Luc, 9-8. Finishing up doubles at the three seed, No. 46 Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith battled back from a 4-2 deficit to beat Maria Brito and Marie Scriba, 8-7.
The Tar Heels saw singles wins from the two and six seeds. Junior Jenna Long and senior Tanja Markovic each downed their opponents by the same margin. Long cruised past Daniela Alvarez, while Markovic downed Marie Scriba, 6-2, 6-2. At the one seed, No. 57 Caitlin Collins fell to Carol Salge, 6-0, 6-2. Clemson won at the five, three and six seeds to clinch the match. At five, freshman Laura Reichert fell to Alexandra Luc, 7-5, 6-4, while at the three seed, Sara Anundsen dropped her 11th match to No. 54 Federica van Adrichem, 7-5, 6-3.
At a three-all tie, the battle came down to the last match at the four seed between freshman Austin Smith and junior Maria Brito. Despite cruising past Brito in the first set, 6-3, Smith fell in the second and third set tie-breakers, 7-6, 7-6. Brito clinched the match for Clemson with a score of 4-3.
"Our conference is really strong and a tough conference to play in," said head coach Brian Kalbas. "We competed as hard as we could, but the breaks just didn't come to us. Austin [Smith] played very well and had good effort. We feel good about how we played in the conference all season."
North Carolina gets a short rest before the ACC Championship begins on April 20. The championship takes place in Cary, N.C. and runs from April 20-23.
No. 24 Clemson 4, No. 5 North Carolina 3
1.No. 7 Sara Anundsen/Jenna Long (UNC) d. No. 9 Carol Salge/Federica van Adrichem (Clemson) 8-3
2. Caitlin Collins/Tanja Markovic (UNC) d. No. 56 Daniela Alvarez/Alexandra Luc 9-8
3. No. 46 Meg Fanjoy/Austin Smith (UNC) d. Maria Brito/Marie Scriba (Clemson) 8-7
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles:
1.Carol Salge (Clemson) d. No. 57 Caitlin Collins (UNC) 6-0, 6-3
2. No. 34 Jenna Long (UNC) d. Daniela Alvarez (Clemson) 6-2, 6-2
3. No. 54 Federica van Adrichem d. Sara Anundsen (UNC) 7-5, 6-3
4. Maria Brito (Clemson) d. Austin Smith (UNC) 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 *
5. Alexandra Luc (Clemson) d. Laura Reichert (UNC) 7-5, 6-4
6. Tanja Markovic (UNC) d. Marie Scriba (Clemson) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 1, 6, 5, 3, 4
*Clinched the match
Players Mentioned
