North Carolina
USC
No. 14 UNC Outlasts No. 8 USC, 4-3
February 9, 2008 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 9, 2008
MADISON, Wis. --- Junior Laura Reichert's thrilling win over Maria Sanchez at No. 5 singles ended a dramatic dual match, as No. 14 North Carolina rallied to defeat No. 8 Southern California, 4-3, in the ITA National Indoor Championships quarterfinals Friday night at the University of Wisconsin's Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Reichert needed more than three hours to finish a 7-5, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5) win over Sanchez that put the Tar Heels (6-1) into the semifinals at the ITA Nationals for the first time in school history.
USC (5-1) took the early lead thanks to a win in a tightly-contested doubles point. The two teams split matches at the top two positions, leaving the match between Carolina's Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith and Southern Cal's Leyla Entekhabi and Sarah Fansler at No. 3 to decide the point. The Tar Heel duo had two match points at 7-6, but the Women of Troy fought them off and eventually triumphed in a tiebreak, 9-8 (1).
Losing the doubles point meant that Carolina, the only unseeded team to advance to the quarterfinals, would need to win four of the six singles matches. Sophomore Katrina Tsang got the Tar Heels off to a strong start at No. 2 singles, dropping No. 51 Amanda Fink in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. USC's Gabriela Niculescu would put her team back in front soon after, defeating freshman Jelena Durisic at No. 4, 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-4.
No. 1 singles was next off, and sophomore Sanaz Marand scored an impressive win for Carolina. Marand, the No. 14 singles player in the country, defeated Lindsey Nelson in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to even the team score at 2. Nelson, who is unranked due to missing most of the fall season, has reached the NCAA singles finals in back-to-back season and ended 2007 ranked No. 3 in the country.
A win by USC's Entekhabi at No. 6, however, pushed the Women of Troy to the brink of victory. Her comeback 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4 win over Fanjoy gave Southern Cal a 3-2 lead with two matches still to be finished.
No. 72 Smith kept Carolina in it with a convincing win over Fansler at No. 3, 7-6 (6), 6-1, leaving only Reichert and Sanchez on the court.
After taking the opening set, 7-5, Reichert lost the second set in a tiebreak, forcing a third set to decide the match. The two players split the first four games of the final set before Reichert pulled ahead 5-3. After holding serve to make it 5-4, Sanchez broke Reichert and held again to take a 6-5 lead. With Reichert serving to extend the match at 30-15, Sanchez was overruled on a out call. The overrule, which was Sanchez's third, resulted in a point penalty and gave the game to Reichert, sending the marathon match into a tiebreak.
With the tiebreak tied at 4, Sanchez won a point that ended with both players falling to the ground. Reichert, who was battling leg cramps, called a medical timeout. The Oakton, Va., junior then responded by winning the next three points to take the tiebreak, 7-5, and give Carolina its second win over a top-10 opponent in as many days.
Carolina will face No. 3 Northwestern Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT for a spot in the final. No. 1 Stanford will meet No. 4 Georgia Tech in the other semifinal.
DOUBLES
1. #5 Niculescu/Fink (USC) def. #8 Marand/Sophie Grabinski (UNC), 8-5
2. Reichert/Tsang (UNC) def. Nelson/Sanchez (USC), 9-7
3. Entekhabi/Fansler (USC) def. Fanjoy/Smith (UNC), 9-8 (1)
SINGLES
1. #14 Sanaz Marand (UNC) def. Lindsey Nelson (USC), 6-3, 6-3
2. Katrina Tsang (UNC) def. #51 Amanda Fink (USC), 6-3, 6-4
3. #72 Austin Smith (UNC) def. Sarah Fansler (USC), 7-6 (6), 6-1
4. Gabriela Niculescu (USC) def. Jelena Durisic (UNC), 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-4
5. Laura Reichert (UNC) def. Maria Sanchez (USC), 7-5, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5)
6. Leyla Entekhabi (USC) def. Meg Fanjoy (UNC), 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4
Order of finish: 2,4,1,6,3,5
Players Mentioned
