North Carolina
Virginia
No. 1 Carolina Rallies Past No. 34 Virginia, 4-3
April 2, 2010 | Women's Tennis
April 2, 2010
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --- Senior Sophie Grabinski won the final four games in the deciding match to rally No. 1 North Carolina past No. 34 Virginia, 4-3, Friday afternoon at the Snyder Tennis Center. Grabinski, Shinann Featherston and Gina Suarez-Malaguti each won decisive third sets to pull UNC out of an early hole and push the Tar Heels to 18-3 and a perfect 5-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Virginia (10-6, 3-3 ACC) stormed out of the gates in doubles, taking the top two matches to claim the first point of the day.
No. 44 Lindsey Hardenbergh and Erin Vierra topped Sanaz Marand and Suarez-Malaguti, 8-3, at No. 2 before No. 65 Jennifer Stevens and Hana Tomljanovic defeated No. 27 Katrina Tsang and Featherston, 8-6, at the top of the lineup. Carolina took the final doubles match at No. 3 with Jelena Durisic and Grabinski winning in a tiebreak.
"Virginia came out with more energy, more enthusiasm, and it took us a while to match that," head coach Brian Kalbas said. "But we refused to roll over and I was proud of our ability to fight back."
The host Cavaliers quickly made it 2-0 with an early singles win at No. 1, as No. 42 Hardenbergh bested No. 51 Tsang, 6-1, 6-1.
UNC got its much-needed first point of the day on court two, as No. 32 Marand rolled past Emily Fraser, 6-1, 6-2, leaving four tightly-contested matches to decide the dual.
Featherston evened the score at 2 with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over Stevens at No. 5, and Carolina took its first lead when Suarez-Malaguti completed her comeback 5-7, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Maria Fuccillo at No. 6.
But Virginia pulled back even when Vierra defeated Durisic, 7-5, 7-5, at No. 3, leaving the match in the hands of Grabinski and Tomljanovic.
After dropping the first set, Grabinski squared the match at a set all with a 6-1 victory in the second. Tomljanovic appeared to take control of the final set with a break to make it 4-2, but Grabinski won the final four games to win going away, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, and seal the win for Carolina.
"We knew coming in that Virginia was capable of beating us, and they played a great match today," Kalbas said. "But we didn't give up and we got some really gutty performances in the three-setters. Sophie just kept playing solid tennis and forced her opponent into some mistakes."
Carolina will now make the short drive to Blacksburg before Saturday's noon match against No. 68 Virginia Tech.
No. 1 North Carolina 4, No. 34 Virginia 3
Doubles
1. #65 Stevens/Tomljanovic (UVA) def. #27 Tsang/Featherston (UNC), 8-6
2. #44 Hardenbergh/Vierra (UVA) def. Marand/Suarez-Malaguti (UNC), 8-3
3. Durisic/Grabinski (UNC) def. Fraser/Fuccillo (UVA), 8-7 (4)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. #42 Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVA) def. #51 Katrina Tsang (UNC), 6-1, 6-1
2. #32 Sanaz Marand (UNC) def. Emily Fraser (UVA), 6-1, 6-2
3. Erin Vierra (UVA) def. Jelena Durisic (UNC), 7-5, 7-5
4. #118 Sophie Grabinski (UNC) def. Hana Tomljanovic (UVA), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
5. Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. Jennifer Stevens (UVA), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
6. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Maria Fuccillo (UVA), 5-7, 6-0, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 6, 3, 4*
Players Mentioned
