North Carolina
Virginia Tech
No. 11 Carolina Sweeps No. 59 Virginia Tech, 7-0
March 23, 2012 | Women's Tennis
March 23, 2012
BLACKSBURG, Va. --- No. 11 North Carolina won its first Atlantic Coast Conference road match of the spring Friday as the Tar Heels swept No. 59 Virginia Tech, 7-0, at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center. Carolina got straight-set victories from Tessa Lyons, Shinann Featherston and Caroline Price to clinch the dual before scoring a trio of third-set tiebreak wins to secure the sweep.
Carolina (13-4, 3-0 ACC) won the doubles point for the sixth match in a row and took all three matches for the fifth time in that stretch.
No. 53 Haley Hemm and Lyons opened the day with their 10th straight doubles victory, an 8-1 win over Shannon Betts and Courtney Rauscher. Laura Slater and Jennifer Stone then sealed the point with an 8-2 triumph over Emily Lauten and Isel Martinez-Marcos on court three.
The All-America tandem of Featherston and Lauren McHale then completed the sweep with an 8-6 win over Martha Blakely and Carol Kahoun. The victory pushed their dual record to 10-2 and 3-0 in league play.
UNC got three straight-set victories early in singles to wrap up the overall win. Lyons improved to 10-2 on the spring with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Lauten on court six. No. 118 Featherston then made it 3-0 with her 6-3, 6-1 decision over Martinez-Marcos on court two.
No. 96 Price clinched the dual on court five, dismissing Kahoun and dropping just two games in a 6-1, 6-1 win.
The final three matches would require a third-set tiebreak and the Tar Heels bested the Hokies (11-6, 2-2 ACC) in each case.
Gina Suarez-Malaguti pushed it to 5-0 with a 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (8) win over Rauscher on court four before No. 33 Zoe De Bruycker rallied for a 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (7) victory over Blakely on court one.
No. 26 McHale then capped the afternoon with a hard-fought 7-6 (7), 2-6, 1-0 (6) win over Betts on court three.
Carolina will continue the Virginia road trip Sunday when the Tar Heels face the No. 8 Cavaliers at noon at the Snyder Tennis Center. Live scoring will be available at VirginiaSports.com.
No. 11 North Carolina 7, No. 59 Virginia Tech 0
Doubles
1. #13 McHale/Featherston (UNC) def. Blakely/Kahoun (VT) 8-6
2. #53 Hemm/Lyons (UNC) def. Betts/Rauscher (VT) 8-1
3. Slater/Stone (UNC) def. Lauten/Martinez-Marcos (VT) 8-2
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. #33 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) def. Martha Blakely (VT) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-7)
2. #118 Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. Isel Martinez-Marcos (VT) 6-3, 6-1
3. #26 Lauren McHale (UNC) def. Shannon Betts (VT) 7-6 (7), 2-6, 1-0 (10-6)
4. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Courtney Rauscher (VT) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
5. #96 Caroline Price (UNC) def. Carol Kahoun (VT) 6-1, 6-1
6. Tessa Lyons (UNC) def. Emily Lauten (VT) 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 2, 5, 4, 1, 3
Players Mentioned
