North Carolina
Michigan
No. 6 Tar Heels Hold Off No. 4 Michigan, 4-3
March 13, 2011 | Women's Tennis
March 13, 2011
CHAPEL HILL --- No. 6 North Carolina scored its second win over a top-five opponent in five days Sunday when the Tar Heels defeated No. 4 Michigan, 4-3, on a sun-splashed afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Zoe De Bruycker, Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale were singles winners for Carolina, who improved to 11-3 on the season. Michigan fell to 10-3 with the loss.
Just as they did Wednesday in the win at No. 3 Miami, the Tar Heels got on the board first courtesy of a tight doubles win. De Bruycker and Suarez-Malaguti overcame a slow start on court three to roll past Sam Crister and Mimi Nguyen, 8-3. Michigan then evened the point with an 8-6 win at No. 2 from No. 60 Whitney Taney and Rika Tatsuno.
With the doubles point on the line, the No. 5 duo of Featherston and McHale found themselves in a back-and-forth match with No. 16 Denise Muresan and Brooke Bolender on court one. After going ahead 6-3, the Tar Heel pair dropped the next three games before staying on serve to 7-all. Featherston and McHale then broke the Michigan duo to go ahead 8-7, and Featherston served out the match to give Carolina the 1-0 lead.
"Shinann and Lauren complement each other well, both in their games and their personalities," head coach Brian Kalbas said. Shinann has a lot of confidence and she's a great leader out there, and sometimes they just find another gear to keep pushing ahead."
All six singles matches were closely contested, with four of the six needing a third set and three of the six including a tiebreak.
Michigan got on the board through No. 109 Taney's 6-4, 6-4 win over Suarez-Malaguti on court four, tying the score at 1.
No. 57 Featherston briefly put Carolina back in front with her 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over No. 44 Crister.
"Shinann has a great competitive spirit, and she just found a way to get it done today," Kalbas said.
Tatsuno then made it 2-2 at No. 6 with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over Haley Hemm, before De Bruycker finished off No. 5 Muresan at the top of the lineup.
After taking the first set 6-3, De Bruycker ran out to a 3-0 lead in the second. But Mursean fought back to take a 4-3 advantage, setting up a thrilling finish. The two top-20 opponents saw the match decided in a second-set tiebreak, with De Bruycker coming out with a 6-4, 7-6 (4).
"Zoe did an amazing job of being resilient and not getting down on herself in that second set," Kalbas said. "She came up with some shots in the tiebreak and I think this is a win that can give her a lot of confidence moving forward."
The Wolverines briefly tied the match at three, as No. 81 Bolender outlasted Jelena Durisic at No. 3, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3). Bolender took a 5-2 lead in the final set before Durisic rallied to force a tiebreak, keeping Michigan off the board until near the end of the match.
But the hosts would be too much on the day, as No. 105 McHale rallied from a set down at No. 5 to top Nguyen, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, and give Carolina the dual.
"Lauren winning that second set and extending her match gave all her teammates a lot of confidence," Kalbas said. "I thought that was a key moment in the match."
Carolina is now 8-3 on the season against ranked opponents and the Tar Heels have played each of the top-four teams in the current ITA poll.
"The girls somehow just found a way to get it done," Kalbas said. "I think a win like this says we're strong throughout the lineup and we're not relying on any one or two positions to be successful. For the three that lost against Miami to be the three that won today means that no one got too down and that this is a really resilient group."
UNC will conclude its non-conference schedule on Thursday when the Tar Heels host Minnesota at 2:30 p.m.
No. 6 North Carolina 4, No. 4 Michigan 3
Doubles
1. #5 Featherston/McHale (UNC) def. #16 Muresan/Bolender (M), 9-7
2. #60 Taney/Tatsuno (M) def. Durisic/Slater (UNC), 8-6
3. De Bruycker/Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Crister/Nguyen (M), 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1*
Singles
1. #14 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) def. #5 Denise Muresan (M), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
2. #57 Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. #44 Sam Crister (M), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
3. #81 Brooke Bolender (M) def. Jelena Durisic (UNC), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3)
4. #109 Whitney Taney (M) def. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC), 6-4, 6-4
5. #105 Lauren McHale (UNC) def. Mimi Nguyen (M), 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
6. Rika Tatsuno (M) def. Haley Hemm (UNC), 6-3, 7-6 (6)
Order of finish: 4, 2, 6, 1, 3, 5
