North Carolina
Georgia
No. 6 Tar Heels Outlast No. 15 Georgia, 4-3
January 30, 2011 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 30, 2011
CHAPEL HILL --- No. 6 North Carolina withstood a furious rally by No. 15 Georgia to score a 4-3 win in the final match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Sunday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Junior Shinann Featherston came back from a set down to defeat Maho Kowase in three sets to clinch the victory for Carolina, which earned a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships Feb. 18-21 in Charlottesville, Va.
The Tar Heels (4-0) won the vital doubles point by notching a pair of 8-6 victories at the top two positions. With all three matches close throughout, the No. 80 pair of Jelena Durisic and Tessa Lyons were first to finish, defeating Kowase and Lilly Kimbell on court two, 8-6.
Georgia was one game from winning on court three, as No. 40 Alexandra Anghelescu and Cameron Ellis led Zoe De Bruycker and Jennifer Stone, 7-5. But the UNC duo of Featherston and Lauren McHale pulled away from Chelsey Gullickson and Kate Fuller on court one to win, 8-6, and seure the doubles point.
The Bulldogs (2-1) quickly evened the match at 1 courtesy of Chelsey Gullickson. The defending NCAA singles champion defeated No. 13 De Bruycker, 6-1, 6-2, at the top of the lineup.
UNC struck back with a 6-0, 6-4 win from Gina Suarez-Malaguti on court four before No. 58 Ellis made it 2-2 with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court five.
Haley Hemm's second dominant win of the weekend pushed the Tar Heels to within one point of the win with her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Kate Fuller at No. 6. Hemm dropped just four games in her two matches against DePaul and Georgia.
With the team score stalled at 3-2, all eyes turned to courts two and three.
On court two, Featherston had responded to dropping the opening set to Kowase with a 6-3 win in set two, while Durisic attempted to rally from a 5-2 hole in her second set against Anghelescu. Durisic won a pair of games to make it 5-4, but was unable to get all the way back and Georgia tied the team score at 3.
Featherston and Kowase exchanged service holds before Kowase broke Featherston in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Featherston broke right back, however, and the match remained on serve through the tenth game of the set.
With the match knotted at 5, Featherston got the breakthrough and served for the match at 6-5. But Kowase spoiled one match point at 40-30 and broke back to force a match-deciding tiebreak.
Serving first, Kowase won the opening point of the tiebreak and then got the mini-break to take a 2-1 lead. But Featherston, who needed a medical timeout to deal with cramping before the tiebreak, won the next six points to claim a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory and clinch the win for the Tar Heels.
The win puts UNC back into the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, a tournament that helped propel the team onto the national scene a year ago. The Tar Heels upset Notre Dame to earn a spot in the 2010 event and advanced all the way to the final, where they fell to Northwestern.
Next up for Carolina is a dual match with Notre Dame on Feb. 5 in Chapel Hill. This year's ITA National Team Indoor Championships is Feb. 18-21 in Charlottesville, Va.
No. 6 North Carolina 4, No. 15 Georgia 3
Doubles
1. #8 Shinann Featherston/Lauren McHale (UNC) def. Chelsey Gullickson/Kate Fuller (G), 8-6
2. #80 Jelena Durisic/Tessa Lyons (UNC) def. Maho Kowase/Lilly Kimbell (G), 8-6
3. Zoe De Bruycker/Jennifer Stone (UNC) vs. #40 Alexandra Anghelescu/Cameron Ellis (G), DNF
Order of finish: 2, 1*
Singles
1. Chelsey Gullickson (G) def. #13 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 6-1, 6-2
2. #54 Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. #97 Maho Kowase (G), 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
3. Alexandra Anghelescu (G) def. #92 Jelena Durisic (UNC), 7-5, 6-4
4. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. #95 Lilly Kimbell (G), 6-0, 6-4
5. #58 Cameron Ellis (G) def. #86 Lauren McHale (UNC), 6-2, 6-3
6. Haley Hemm (UNC) def. Kate Fuller (G), 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 4, 5, 6, 3, 2*
Players Mentioned
