WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan

W TENNIS: Carolina Dominates #15 Notre Dame, 6-1

Feb 24, 2008

CHAPEL HILL --- No. 5 North Carolina got wins in five of six singles matches to defeat No. 15 Notre Dame, 6-1, Sunday afternoon at the Cone-Kenfield Indoor Tennis Center. UNC, which had lost three straight matches to top-10 opponents, defeated its fourth ranked foe of 2008. No. 12 Sanaz Marand rallied from down a set to defeat No. 59 Kelcy Tefft, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, and remain unbeaten in dual matches this season.

Carolina (7-4) took the doules point by winning two of three matches against the Irish, who were playing their third match in four days. Junior Laura Reichert and senior Alexandra Jurewitz scored an 8-3 victory over No. 45 Cosmina Ciobanu and Colleen Rielley at No. 3 to put the Tar Heels in the driver's seat. Just a few minutes later, juniors Austin Smith and Sophie Grabinski finished an 8-2 win over Kali Krisik and Kristen Rafael at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point. Marand and sophomore Katrina Tsang just missed their second top-10 win of the weekend, falling to No. 3 Kelcy Tefft and Brook Buck, 8-5.

The Tar Heels won the opening set in four of six singles matches to take control after the break. Reichert was the first Tar Heel off, winning 6-2, 6-2, over Rielley at No. 4. Grabinski triumphed next, topping Katie Potts at No. 5, 6-2, 6-3.

Notre Dame (7-6) got on the board with a win at No. 6, as Krisik downed junior Meg Fanjoy, 6-4, 6-3.

No. 28 Tsang clinched the victory for the Tar Heels with a win at No. 2. The Raleigh, N.C., sophomore topped Buck, 6-2, 7-6 (4), to give UNC the dual match. Smith stretched the lead to 5-1 with a 7-5, 6-4, win over Ciobanu at No. 2, leaving only No. 1 singles in doubt.

Marand, who lost a set for the first time in the spring season, needed extra time to get her 10th straight victory. After falling 7-5 to Tefft in the opening stanza, Marand caught fire and put together a dominant 6-1 win in the second set. The Katy, Texas, native then finished the match with a 6-3 win in the final set to give UNC a 6-1 triumph.

Carolina will be off until March 8, when the Tar Heels host Maryland at 11 a.m. in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener.

DOUBLES

1. #3 Buck/Tefft (ND) def. Marand/Tsang (UNC), 8-5

2. Smith/Grabinski (UNC) def. Krisik/Rafael (ND), 8-2

3. Reichert/Jurewitz (UNC) def. #45 Ciobanu/Rielley (ND), 8-3 Order of finish: 3,2,1

SINGLES

1. #12 Sanaz Marand (UNC) def. #59 Kelcy Tefft (ND), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3

2. #28 Katrina Tsang (UNC) def. Brook Buck (ND), 6-2, 7-6 (4)

3. #76 Austin Smith (UNC) def. Cosmina Ciobanu (ND), 7-5, 6-4

4. Laura Reichert (UNC) def. Colleen Rielley (ND), 6-2, 6-2

5. Sophie Grabinski (UNC) def. Katie Potts (ND), 6-2, 6-3

6. Kali Krisik (ND) def. Meg Fanjoy (UNC), 6-4, 6-3 Order of finish: 4,5,6,2,3,1