North Carolina
Clemson
No. 20 Carolina Ousted By No. 12 Clemson
May 9, 2009 | Women's Tennis
May 9, 2009
CLEMSON, S.C. --- No. 20 North Carolina could not overcome dropping a tightly contested doubles point and fell to No. 12 Clemson, 4-0, in the second round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship Saturday afternoon at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center. The host Lady Tigers followed up the doubles win with straight-set singles victories at positions two, three and six to advance to the Sweet 16 next week in College Station, Texas. Carolina closes its dual match season with a record of 19-11, but will send a sizeable contingent to the NCAA individual championships that follow the team event.
Clemson (19-7) got an early spark at No. 3 doubles with the return of injured former All-America Federica Van Adrichem, who paired with Alexandra Luc to top the senior duo of Meg Fanjoy and Laura Reichert, 8-4. No. 34 Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic then clinched the point with an 8-5 win over No. 36 Austin Smith at No. 2. The top-10 tandems of Carolina's Sophie Grabinski and Sanaz Marand and Clemson's Ani Mijacika and Keri Wong were locked in an 8-all deadlock when play was halted.
Facing the Lady Tigers for the third time in five matches, Carolina was met with familiar matchups throughout the singles lineup. But the Tar Heels could not replicate the success they had in the recent ACC Championship, as Clemson took a trio of straight-set victories to move into the NCAA round of 16.
Court two was first to finish, as No. 14 Bek handled No. 51 Tsang, 6-1, 6-2. After Hadziselimovic defeated No. 103 Smith, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 3 to make it 3-0, Laurianne Henry clinched the victory at No. 6 with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Reichert.
Carolina will send at least two singles players and an All-America doubles tandem to the NCAA individual championships. Marand and Grabinski have already earned All-America status due to their standout regular season and will enter the doubles event as the No. 4 overall seed. Additionally, Marand and Tsang will compete in the singles event. Tsang and Smith are currently the second alternates for the doubles field and could still be placed into the field. The individual events will begin on May 20 In College Station, Texas.
No. 12 Clemson 4, No. 20 North Carolina 0
Doubles
1. No. 4 Grabinski/Marand (UNC) vs. No. 9 Mijacika/Wong, 8-8
2. No. 34 Bek/Hadziselimovic (CU) def. No. 36 Smith/Tsang (UNC), 8-5
3. Luc/Federica Van Adrichem (CU) def. Reichert/Meg Fanjoy, 8-4
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles
1. No. 21 Sanaz Marand (UNC) vs. No. 4 Ani Mijacika (CU), DNF
2. No. 14 Josipa Bek (CU) def. No. 51 Katrina Tsang (UNC), 6-1, 6-2
3. Ina Hadziselimovic (CU) def. No. 103 Austin Smith (UNC), 6-3, 6-2
4. No. 109 Sophie Grabinski (UNC) vs. No. 118 Keri Wong (CU), DNF
5. Jelena Durisic (UNC) vs. Alexandra Luc (CU), DNF
6. Laurianne Henry (CU) def. Laura Reichert (UNC), 6-4, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 6
Players Mentioned
