North Carolina
Miami
No. 8 Carolina Bests No. 7 Miami, 4-3
April 7, 2012 | Women's Tennis
April 7, 2012
CHAPEL HILL --- No. 8 North Carolina scored a 4-3 victory over No. 7 Miami Saturday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center, setting up a showdown with No. 3 Duke for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference next Thursday in Durham. The Tar Heels got a tiebreak win from No. 4 Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale to take the doubles point then saw Gina Suarez-Malaguti, Caroline Price and Tessa Lyons triumph in singles to clinch the dual.
Miami (13-3, 7-2 ACC) got the first win of the day in doubles as Anna Bartenstein and Brittany Dubins topped Suarez-Malaguti and Price on court three.
Carolina (18-4, 8-0 ACC) had to rally for wins on the other two courts to get what would prove to be a key opening point.
No. 71 Haley Hemm and Lyons fell behind 3-0 to No. 37 Gabriela Mejia and Lina Lileikite at No. 2 before storming back for an 8-5 victory, setting up the top of the lineup to decide it.
No. 4 Featherston and McHale got off to a slow start and gave up a break to fall behind 6-4 to No. 24 Melissa Bolivar and Liat Zimmermann. The Tar Heel duo immediately broke back, however, and stayed on serve to force a deciding tiebreak. The Miami tandem fought off a pair of match points at 6-4 but back-to-back Hurricane errors gave Carolina the 9-8 (8) victory and the point.
The momentum of doubles would not last long for Carolina, though, as Miami took four of six opening sets to put the pressure back on the hosts.
No. 26 Mejia was first to finish, as the Hurricane No. 1 defeated No. 33 McHale, 6-1, 6-2, to even the dual at 1.
Lyons gave the Tar Heels their first singles victory on court six with a remarkable turnaround. Lyons dropped the opening set to Dubins, 6-3, and lost the first game of the second set. But the Carolina sophomore standout proceeded to win the next 12 games en route to a convincing, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 triumph.
No. 98 Price pushed UNC to within one of the win, as she outlasted fellow freshman Zimmermann in a tough two-setter, 7-5, 6-4, giving the Tar Heels a 3-1 advantage.
Miami got back within one on court two as No. 18 Bartenstein topped No. 100 Featherston, 6-3, 7-5, leaving courts three and four to determine the outcome.
On court four, Suarez-Malaguti struggled in losing the opening set to Bolivar, 6-4, before righting the ship and playing some stellar tennis in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory that gave Carolina its 13th dual match win in a row.
The Hurricanes took the final point of the day, as No. 110 Lileikite defeated No. 30 Zoe De Bruycker in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The win means that Carolina and Duke will meet Thursday as the final remaining Atlantic Coast Conference unbeatens. The Blue Devils were 4-3 winners in Chapel Hill last season on their way to the top seed in the ACC Championship, while the Tar Heels took a 4-3 decision in 2010 en route to a perfect regular season.
No. 8 North Carolina 4, No. 7 Miami 3
Doubles
1. #4 Featherston/McHale (UNC) def. #24 Bolivar/Zimmermann (UM), 9-8 (8)
2. #71 Hemm/Lyons (UNC) def. #37 Mejia/Lileikite (UM), 8-5
3. Bartenstein/Dubins (UM) def. Suarez-Malaguti/Price (UNC), 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. #26 Gabriela Mejia (UM) def. #33 Lauren McHale (UNC), 6-1, 6-2
2. #18 Anna Bartenstein (UM) def. #100 Shinann Featherston (UNC), 6-3, 7-5
3. #110 Lina Lileikite (UM) def. #30 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Melissa Bolivar (UM), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. #98 Caroline Price (UNC) def. Liat Zimmermann (UM), 7-5, 6-4
6. Tessa Lyons (UNC) def. Brittany Dubins (UM), 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 1, 6, 5, 2, 4, 3
Players Mentioned
