Feb. 22, 2008

Results

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- No. 2 Northwestern won five singles matches in a 5-2 victory over the fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels Friday afternoon in Chapel Hill. The 'Cats dropped the doubles point, but dominated singles as No. 25 Samantha Murray did not drop a single game en route to a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles.

These two teams met less than two weeks ago in the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Tennis Championships. The 'Cats defeated the Tar Heels 4-0 in that match-up, sweeping doubles and singles.

North Carolina took the early lead as the Wildcats dropped No. 1 doubles for the second consecutive dual. Though the Tar Heels have two ranked doubles teams, they chose to change their lineup for this dual. In their first-ever dual match together, UNC's Sanaz Marand and Katrina Tsang defeated NU's tenth-ranked tandem of Lauren Lui and Samantha Murray, 8-1, at No. 1.

Northwestern struck back in an equally lopsided 8-1 victory at No. 2 as Georgia Rose and Alexis Conill defeated Meg Fanjoy and Laura Reichert. The doubles point came down to No. 3, which was a much tighter contest, but the Wildcat duo of Nazlie Ghazal and Maria Mosolova fell 8-6 to the Heels' Austin Smith and Sophie Grabinski.

The 'Cats quickly evened up the score as Samantha Murray scored a double bagel over Smith at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-0. Thanks to a 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 2 by Marand over the 'Cats' third-ranked Rose, the Heels regained a 2-1 lead in the dual.

UNC's lead was short-lived as Wildcat Lauren Lui evened it up with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Reichert at No. 4, taking the last four games in a row to close out the match. The fifth-ranked Mosolova followed up at No. 1 singles defeating the Heels' Reichert 6-2, 6-1.

The clincher came at No. 6 singles where the 'Cats' Suzie Matzenauer won her 17th match in a row at that spot, dating back to last year, by topping Grabinski 7-6(5), 6-2. After a hard-fought first set, Matzenauer went up an early break in the second and built on it for the victory.

Ghazal ended the dual with another Wildcat singles win by defeating Fanjoy 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 singles.

The 'Cats aren't done in North Carolina as they are set to face Princeton and eighth-ranked Duke in Durham on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

DOUBLES
1. Marand/Tsang (UNC) def. #10 Liu/Murray (NU), 8-1
2. Conill/Rose (NU) def. Fanjoy/Recihert (UNC), 8-1
3. Smith/Grabinski (UNC) def. Ghazal/Mosolova (NU), 8-6
Order of finish: 1,2,3

SINGLES
1. #5 Maria Mosolova (NU) def. #28 Katrina Tsang (UNC), 6-2, 6-1
2. #12 Sanaz Marand (UNC) def. #3 Georgia Rose (NU), 6-4, 6-1
3. #25 Samantha Murray (NU) def. #76 Austin Smith, 6-0, 6-0
4. #42 Lauren Liu (NU) def. Laura Reichert (UNC), 6-4, 6-2
5. #69 Nazlie Ghazal (NU) def. Meg Fanjoy, 6-3, 6-4
6. Suzie Matzenauer (NU) def. Sophie Grabinski (UNC), 7-6 (5), 6-2
Order of finish: 3,2,4,1,6,5