University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Baylor
No. 9 Lady Bears Outlast No. 4 Carolina, 4-3
March 13, 2010 | Women's Tennis
March 13, 2010
WACO, Texas --- No. 4 North Carolina won the doubles point but could not hang on in singles as the Tar Heels lost to No. 9 Baylor, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at the Baylor Tennis Center. Sophie Grabinski and Shinann Featherston scored singles wins for Carolina, which lost for just the third time in 2010, with all three losses coming to top-10 opponents. The two teams were facing off for the second time this season, a month to the day after UNC topped Baylor, 5-2, in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis.
All three doubles matches were hotly contested, with the Tar Heels (13-3) winning on courts two and three to take the point. No. 39 Featherston and Katrina Tsang outlasted Taylor Ormond and Jelena Stanivuk at No. 2, 9-7, before Haley Hemm and Jocelyn Ffriend finished off Karolina Filipiak and Nina Secerbegovic at No. 3, 8-6.
No. 11 Lenka Broosova and Csilla Borsanyi prevented a UNC sweep with their 9-8 win over No. 8 Sanaz Marand and Grabinski at No. 1.
Baylor (11-2) would not stay behind long, however, thanks to the strong play of No. 41 Secerbegovic. The sophomore, who has yet to lose in dual match play this season, topped No. 32 Tsang, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 2 to draw the Lady Bears even.
No. 53 Borsanyi gave Baylor its first lead of the day with a 6-3, 6-1 win over freshman Zoe De Bruycker at No. 4 before No. 8 Broosova pushed it to 3-1 with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over No. 48 Marand at the top of the lineup.
UNC continued to battle, getting a three-set win from Featherston at No. 6 to make it 3-2 with the final two matches also in third sets.
But Jelena Durisic succumbed to No. 98 Ormond at No. 3, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, giving the host Lady Bears their second win over a top-5 opponent in as many matches.
Grabinski held on in a tiebreak in the final set at No. 5, giving UNC its final point with a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 win over Filipiak.
"We fought hard today, but we just let a few opportunities get away from us," head coach Brian Kalbas said after the match. "Baylor came in on a real high after sweeping USC and UCLA during the week, and we had a tough turnaround after the night match at Florida, so we knew what was in store for us. But I'm proud of our effort. I think there are positives to take out of this week and we've still got some great tennis ahead of us."
Carolina returns home Saturday night and will have nine days off before hosting top-ranked Northwestern on March 23. That showdown will also be an ITA National Indoors rematch, as the Wildcats topped UNC, 4-2, in the championship round.
No. 9 Baylor 4, No. 4 North Carolina 3
Doubles
1. #11 Lenka Broosova/Csilla Borsanyi (BU) def. #8 Sanaz Marand/Sophie Grabinski (UNC), 9-8
2. #39 Shinann Featherston/Katrina Tsang (UNC) def. Taylor Ormond/Jelena Stanivuk (BU), 9-7
3. Haley Hemm/Jocelyn Ffriend (UNC) def. Karolina Filipiak/Nina Secerbegovic (BU), 8-6
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. #8 Lenka Broosova (BU) def. #48 Sanaz Marand (UNC), 6-4, 7-5
2. #41 Nina Secerbegovic (BU) def. #32 Katrina Tsang (UNC), 6-0, 6-2
3. #98 Taylor Ormond (BU) def. Jelena Durisic (UNC), 7-5, 1-6, 6-4
4. #53 Csilla Borsanyi (BU) def. Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 6-3, 6-1
5. Sophie Grabinski (UNC) def. Karolina Filipiak (BU), 6-4, 5-7, 7-6
6. Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. #82 Jelena Stanivuk (BU), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 6, 3*, 5
Players Mentioned
