March 23, 2010

Complete Results

Campbell's/ITA College Tennis Poll — March 23, 2010

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Following an uplifting doubles point during which Lauren Lui and Maria Mosolova overcame the nation's 10th-ranked duo in tiebreakers, No. 2 Northwestern seemed poised to defeat North Carolina in a rematch of the 2010 ITA Indoor Team Championship final played on Feb. 15. But the Tar Heels, college tennis' newly anointed No. 1 team, rallied in singles to win a 5-2 decision over the Wildcats Tuesday in Chapel Hill.

In winning the clash of the nation's top-ranked squads, North Carolina defeated Northwestern for the first time since February, 2007, a span of five matches. The Wildcats move to 13-2 on the season while the Tar Heels improve to 14-3 this year.

North Carolina locked up the first win of the afternoon when the 38th-ranked tandem of Katrina Tsang and Shinann Featherston defeated NU's Samantha Murray and Elena Chernyakova at No. 2 doubles. The match was tied at three before Tsang and Featherston ran off five of the next six games for the victory.

Northwestern answered with an 8-5 outcome in its favor at No. 3 thanks to a pair of underclassmen in Stacey Lee and Linda Abu Mushrefova. The 'Cats fought their way to a 4-3 lead against Jocelyn Ffriend and Haley Hemm and did not trail the remainder of the match.

As expected, the No. 1 match between 10th-ranked Sophie Grabinski and Sanaz Marand of UNC and Lui and Mosolova of Northwestern proved to be a treat for those in attendance at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Grabinski and Marand appeared in control through much of the match, holding three-game leads of 4-1 and 6-3 before the Wildcats mounted their comeback.

Lui and Mosolova surged to an 8-7 advantage but surrendered one more game to send the match to a tiebreaker, where the 'Cats held on to win by a narrow 8-6 margin to clinch the doubles point.

Momentum slowly began to shift in the home team's favor during singles thanks to a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4 by North Carolina's Sophie Grabinski over NU's Kate Turvy, tying the dual at one apiece.

Northwestern received a strong performance in singles by Mosolova at her traditional No. 1 spot as the junior defeated No. 42 Katrina Tsang, 6-2, 6-4. When NU and North Carolina met on Feb. 15, Mosolova defeated Tsang in three sets to clinch the ITA National Indoor Team title. Mosolova now owns a career singles record at NU of 98-28.

After trailing No. 47 Marand 4-1 early in her No. 2 singles match, the 43rd-ranked Murray rallied to tie the first set at five before falling 7-5. The two-time All-American Marand again got out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and this time made it stand up to win 6-1.

North Carolina then received back-to-back wins by Gina Suarez-Malaguti and Shinann Featherston at No. 6 and No. 5, respectively, to lock up the dual victory. Malaguti downed Chernyakova by a 7-5, 6-1 decision while Featherston overcame Lee, 6-4, 6-1.

At No. 4, Lui coasted through her first set against Jelena Durisic and led 5-4 in the second before Durisic was able to rally to take the set 7-5. The Tar Heel carried that momentum into the third set, taking a 3-0 lead en route to a 6-3 set victory, securing UNC a 5-2 team win. It was Lui's first dual singles loss of her senior campaign.

Northwestern continues its spring break road trip Wednesday when it faces defending NCAA champion and eighth-ranked Duke at 2 p.m. CT. Live stats for that match are available by clicking here.

No. 1 North Carolina 5, No. 2 Northwestern 2
Singles
1: #11 Maria Mosolova (NU) def. #42 Katrina Tsang (UNC), 6-2, 6-4
2: #47 Sanaz Marand (UNC) def. #43 Samantha Murray (NU), 7-5, 6-1
3: Jelena Durisic (UNC) def. Lauren Lui (NU), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
4: Sophie Grabinski (UNC) def. Kate Turvy (NU), 6-2, 6-2
5: Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. Stacey Lee (NU), 6-4, 6-1
6: Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Elena Chernyakova (NU), 7-5, 6-1

Doubles
1: Lui/Mosolova (NU) def. #10 Grabinski/Marand (UNC), 9-8 (6)
2: #38 Tsang/Featherston (UNC) def. Murray/Chernyakova (NU), 8-4
3: Abu Mushrefova/Lee (NU) def. Ffriend/Hemm (UNC), 8-5

Order of Finish
Singles: (4, 1, 2, 6, 5*, 3)
Doubles: (2, 3, 1*)