North Carolina
Southern California
No. 8 Tar Heels Fall To USC, 4-2
February 10, 2012 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 10, 2012
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --- No. 8 North Carolina fell to No. 16 Southern California, 4-2, in the opening round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships Friday afternoon at the Boar's Head Sports Club. Carolina won the doubles point but fell behind 3-1 early in singles and was unable to complete a furious rally.
After USC's Danielle Lao and Ali Ramos scored a quick 8-1 victory on court two, the All-America duo of Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale defeated USC's No. 3-ranked tandem Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina Santamaria on court one, 8-5. The win was the second straight top-10 win for the UNC pair after an 8-1 victory over No. 6 Linda Abu Meshrefova and Nida Hamilton of Northwestern last Friday.
That left court three to decide the point, with Haley Hemm and Tessa Lyons needing a tiebreak against Valeria Pulido and Zoe Scandalis. Fittingly, the tiebreak would need more than the standard seven points to determine a winner, and Hemm and Lyons ultimately outlasted their Trojan counterparts, 10-8 in the tiebreak.
Despite the close doubles loss, USC (6-0) took back control of the match right away in singles. No. 99 Christian was first to finish, besting No. 55 Caroline Price on court four, 6-3, 6-0. Gabrielle DeSimone closed out Gina Suarez-Malaguti on court five soon after, 6-1, 6-1.
No. 18 Santamaria made it 3-1 in favor of Southern Cal on court three, defeating Featherston in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5.
From there, Carolina (5-3) needed the remaining matches and all three would go the distance.
Lyons got the comeback started, rallying from a set down on court six to defeat Ramos, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
No. 16 McHale and No. 44 De Bruycker were last out for the Tar Heels and both players split sets against top-50 opponents.
McHale responded after dropping the first set to No. 19 Scandalis with an impressive 6-2 win in the second. That match was at 5-all in the third when No. 42 Lao completed her comeback win over De Bruycker on court two, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
With the dual secured, McHale and Scandalis saw their match halted.
Carolina will move into consolation play Saturday and Sunday, while USC will face No. 17 Tennessee. The Lady Vols were upset winners over No. 5 Baylor, 4-0.
No. 16 USC 4, No. 8 North Carolina 2
Doubles
1. Featherston/McHale (UNC) def. #3 Christian/Santamaria (USC), 8-5
2. Lao/Ramos (UNC) def. De Bruycker/Slater (UNC), 8-1
3. Lyons/Hemm (UNC) def. Pullido/Scandalis (USC), 9-8 (8)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. #16 Lauren McHale (UNC) vs. #19 Zoe Scandalis (USC), 4-6, 6-2, 5-5, DNF
2. #42 Danielle Lao (USC) def. #44 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
3. #18 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. Shinann Featherston (UNC), 6-2, 7-5
4. #99 Kaitlyn Christian (USC) def. #55 Caroline Price (UNC), 6-3, 6-0
5. Gabrielle DeSimone (USC) def. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC), 6-1, 6-1
6. Tessa Lyons (UNC) def. Ali Ramos (USC), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3, 6, 2
Players Mentioned
