North Carolina
Miami
Heels Quiet Hurricanes In Quarters
February 7, 2015 | Women's Tennis
UNC (6-0) faced the Hurricanes after they upset No. 6 Alabama on Friday.
The Tar Heels No. 2 doubles team of Jamie Loeb and Caroline Price blanked eighth-ranked Stephanie Wagner and Lina Lileikite, 6-0, to grab early momentum for the always critical opening point of the match.
Miami evened things up with a 6-4 win on court one, meaning the doubles point would be decided on court three between Hayley Carter and Whitney Kay of UNC and #37 Sinead Lohan and Wendy Zhang of Miami. The Hurricanes jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but the Tar Heel tandem rallied back to knot the score at 5-5.
Miami regained its footing to lead 6-5 and was a single point away from the 1-0 lead, but Carter and Kay sent the match into a tiebreaker, and would rally from down 5-3 in the breaker, winning 8-6 to come out victorious to give the Tar Heels the early edge over the Hurricanes.
In the singles matchups, #22 Price cruised to victory, blanking #94 Lina Lileikite for the second time Saturday, 6-3, 6-0.
Yet the real key to victory against Miami was the depth of the lineup on courts four and six, with huge wins for Whitney Kay and Kate Vialle.
Kay won the third point for the Heels with her 6-4, 6-4 win over #88 Clementina Riobueno. She moves to an impressive 8-2 record on the season and once again proved her value as a pillar of the team.
Vialle sealed the match with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Monique Albuquerque. The match was tied at 5-5 in the second set before Vialle broke Albuquerque to get the win.
“We're excited to get to the semis,” said UNC head coach Brian Kalbas. “Last year we lost in the quarters, so for this group it's a step forward.”
UNC will play the winner of the #7 Virginia/#2 Florida matchup at 3:30 p.m. Sunday for a chance at the finals.
Tennis Match Results
Miami vs North Carolina
Feb 07, 2015 at Charlottesville, VA
(Boar's Head Sports Club)
#3 North Carolina 4, #12 Miami 0
Singles competition
1. #8 Jamie Loeb (NC) vs. #7 Stephanie Wagner (UM) 4-6, 6-2, 0-0, unfinished
2. #31 Hayley Carter (NC) vs. #39 Sinead Lohan (UM) 7-5, 5-5, unfinished
3. #22 Caroline Price (NC) def. #94 Lina Lileikite (UM) 6-3, 6-0
4. Whitney Kay (NC) def. #88 Clementina Riobueno (UM) 6-4, 6-4
5. Ashley Dai (NC) vs. #58 Wendy Zhang (UM) 7-6, 2-2, unfinished
6. Kate Vialle (NC) def. Monique Albuquerque (UM) 6-3, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #15 Monique Albuquerque/Clementina Riobueno (UM) def. #13 Ashley Dai/Kate Vialle (NC) 6-4
2. Jamie Loeb/Caroline Price (NC) def. #8 Stephanie Wagner/Lina Lileikite (UM) 6-0
3. Hayley Carter/Whitney Kay (NC) def. #37 Sinead Lohan/Wendy Zhang (UM) 7-6
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,4,6)
Players Mentioned
