University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Elon
Kalbas Wins 400 As No. 4 Tar Heels Sweep Elon, UNCG
January 18, 2012 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 18, 2012
CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina head coach Brian Kalbas got career win No. 400 and the fourth-ranked Tar Heels opened the 2012 season 2-0 as UNC scored a pair of 7-0 victories over Elon and UNC Greensboro Wednesday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Caroline Price, Haley Hemm, Gina Suarez-Malaguti and Laura Slater were double winners for the Tar Heels, who will travel to the USTA National Tennis Center in New York this weekend to face Tennessee and Texas.
Kalbas entered the afternoon with 399 career wins to start his 20th season of coaching and his ninth as the head coach of the Tar Heels. The hosts showed some rust in doubles but took the early advantage thanks to wins on courts two and three. Hemm and Price defeated Elon's Barbara Lazarova and Bryn Koury, 8-3, before Jennifer Stone and Tessa Lyons clinched the point by topping Briana Berne and Maria Camara Ruiz, 8-4.
Carolina was sharper in singles, dropping just one set in finishing out the 7-0 sweep. No. 55 Price, playing in her first collegiate dual match, got off to an impressive start with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Jordan Johnston at the top of the lineup to clinch the team win.
Shinann Featherston was victorious in her return to the lineup after requiring offseason surgery to repair a torn knee ligament, as was Suarez-Malaguti after shoulder surgery. Hemm, Slater and Stone finished the sweep, with Hemm outlasting Lazarova in a third-set tiebreak, 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (4).
The win was No. 400 for Kalbas, 186 of which have come since his arrival in Chapel Hill in 2003. Prior to then, Kalbas spent 11 successful seasons at William & Mary, winning 214 matches and advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals twice. His time at Carolina has been similarly prolific, with three national quarterfinal appearances, a 2010 trip to the Final Four and the 2011 ACC title as highlights.
And Kalbas would not have to wait long for win No. 401 as the Tar Heels defeated UNC Greensboro in the nightcap by a matching 7-0 score.
Featherston and Price teamed up at No. 1 doubles for the first time and knocked off the No. 40 duo of Niltooli Wilkins and Lucy Dougherty, 8-3. De Bruycker and Slater and Stone and Hemm were also doubles winners to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.
Price, Slater and Featherston dropped a combined four games to quickly clinch the dual for the Tar Heels. After Hemm and Suarez-Malaguti scored straight-set wins on courts four and five, the only remaining drama was at No. 1 singles. De Bruycker and Wilkins were tight throughout two sets but the All-America junior from Saratoga, Calif., finished off the sweep with a 7-5, 7-5 victory.
Carolina will now hit the road for a pair of matches this weekend in New York. The Tar Heels will play Texas and Tennessee at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. The matches will double as a homecoming for a pair of Tar Heels - Rockaway Park, N.Y., native Shinann Featherston and Englewood Cliffs, N.J., product Lauren McHale.
No. 4 North Carolina 7, Elon 0
Doubles
1. Johnston/Jansaker (E) def. No. 43 De Bruycker/Slater (UNC), 8-6
2. Hemm/Price (UNC) def. Lazarova/Khoury (E), 8-3
3. Stone/Lyons (UNC) def. Berne/Camara Ruiz (E), 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. No. 55 Caroline Price (UNC) def. Jordan Johnston (E), 6-0, 6-4
2. Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. Bryn Koury (E), 6-1, 6-1
3. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Frida Jansaker (E), 6-1, 6-3
4. Haley Hemm (UNC) def. Barbara Lazarova (E), 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (4)
5. Laura Slater (UNC) def. Viviana Stavreva (E), 7-5, 7-5
6. Jennifer Stone (UNC) def. Briana Berne (E), 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 2, 6, 1, 3, 4, 5
No. 4 North Carolina 7, UNC Greensboro 0
Doubles
1. Featherston/Price (UNC) def. Wilkins/Dougherty (UNCG), 8-3
2. No. 43 De Bruycker/Slater (UNC) def. Whitehead/Yurtkuran (UNCG), 8-4
3. Stone/Hemm (UNC) def. Gammie/Sutherland (UNCG), 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. No. 44 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) def. Niltooli Wilkins (UNCG), 7-5, 7-5
2. Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. Dilara Yurtkuran (UNCG), 6-0, 6-1
3. No. 55 Caroline Price (UNC) def. Alex Whitehead (UNCG), 6-0, 6-1
4. Haley Hemm (UNC) def. Lucy Dougherty (UNCG), 7-5, 6-0
5. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Annette Rios (UNCG), 6-2, 6-3
6. Laura Slater (UNC) def. Stephanie Falcon (UNCG), 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 6, 2, 4, 5, 1
Players Mentioned
