North Carolina
Florida
No. 5 Tar Heels Fall 6-1 To No. 6 Florida
February 17, 2008 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 17, 2008
CHAPEL HILL --- No. 5 North Carolina dropped its match to No. 6 Florida, 6-1, Sunday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Sophomore Sanaz Marand, the No. 14 singles player in the nation, scored UNC's only win on the day, a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 59 Csilla Borsayni.
The Gators (4-1) got on the board quickly by sweeping the doubles matches. Florida won the doubles point after the Gator pair of Megan Alexander and Marrit Boonstra defeated the No. 8 ranked pair of Marand and Sophie Grabinski, 8-3. That loss followed the defeat of Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith, who fell 8-3 to the Florida's Julia Cohen and Anastasia Revzina.
The Tar Heel pair of Katrina Tsang and Laura Reichert fought hard but fell to Whitney Benick and Lolita Frangulyan 8-5 for the sweep, putting the Gators up 1-0.
The Gators kept their momentum rolling into the singles matches as they took the first four wins to clinch the match. Florida got its second point of the match as Carolina freshman Jelena Durisic had to retire due to a knee injury in the first set of her match against Whitney Benick.
Singles victories by Boonstra and No. 37 Megan Alexander secured the team victory for the visiting Gators. Boonstra defeated Fanjoy 6-0, 6-0, and Alexander defeated No. 72 Austin Smith in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.
Marand was the highlight for Carolina as she claimed the lone point for the Tar Heels (6-3). After having her serve broken in the first game, Marand quickly found herself in a battle with Borsayni, as they exchanged games before Marand pulled away to take the first set, 6-4. Marand came out strong in the second set and survived a late push by Borsayni to triumph, 6-3, putting the Tar Heels on the board at 5-1.
The day ended as Laura Reichert fell in a third-set tiebreak --the tightest match on the day. Reichert quickly dropped the first set 6-1 as No. 50 Anastasia Revzina managed to make a quick set of it. However, Reichert fought back, led by incredible defense as she dropped Revzina 6-2 to force a third set. But Reichert fell 10-6 in the tiebreak for the final tally of 6-1 in favor of the Gators.
The Tar Heels will look to avenge their quarterfinal loss to No. 2 Northwestern during the ITA Indoor Nationals, as they host the Wildcats Friday, Feb. 22 in Chapel Hill. The match will begin at 4 p.m. at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
DOUBLES
1. Alexander/Boonstra (UF) def. #8 Marand/Sophie Grabinski (UNC), 8-3
2. Benik/Frangulyan (UF) def. Tsang/Reichert (UNC), 8-5
3. Cohen/Revzina (UF) def. Meg Fanjoy/Austin Smith (UNC), 8-3
Order of finish: 3,1,2
SINGLES
1. Julia Cohen (UF) def. Katrina Tsang (UNC), 6-3, 6-3
2. #14 Sanaz Marand (UNC) def. #59 Csilla Borsayni, 6-4, 6-3
3. #37 Megan Alexander (UF) def. #72 Austin Smith, 6-1, 6-3
4. Whitney Benik (UF) def. Jelena Durisic (UNC), 6-5 (ret.)
5. #50 Anastasia Revzina (UF) def. Laura Reichert (UNC), 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (6)
6. Marrit Boonstra (UF) def. Meg Fanjoy (UNC), 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: 4,6,3,1,2,5
Players Mentioned
