Saturday 04/11/2009
April 11, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, NC – Ina Hadziselimovic clinched a 5-2 win for the Clemson women’s tennis team on Saturday afternoon as the 12th-ranked Tigers downed #19 North Carolina at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in the final regular season match of the 2009 season. Clemson posted a pair of come-from-behind victories in doubles action en route to its 19th win of the season. The Tigers will take a 19-6 overall record and a 9-2 mark against conference opponents into next week’s ACC Championship.
Clemson had clinched a top-four seed and first-round bye for the tournament earlier in the season and the Tigers will now likely be the number-three team when play kicks off on Thursday. The Tar Heels dropped to 16-9 on the year with a 6-5 record in conference matches.
A pair of Clemson doubles teams erased deficits at their respective flights to post the win and capture the point for the Tigers. Ina Hadziselimovic, but the Tiger duo did not drop a game after that, winning the final six games for the 8-5 victory and the 1-0 Clemson lead.
The Tigers rebounded from a loss in doubles action on Friday against Duke to post their 18th doubles victory this season. The Tar Heels avoided the sweep as their fourth-ranked duo of Sanaz Marand and Sophie Grabinski defeated Ani Mijacika and Keri Wong, ranked eighth nationally, by an 8-5 margin at the top flight.
North Carolina evened the match at 1-1 with a win at flight five as Jelene Durisic defeated Estefania Balda, 6-3, 6-3. The number two match-up finished next with 12th-ranked Josipa Bek posting a straight set victory over Tsang. Bek did not give up a point in the first set for the 6-0 win and then edged the Tar Heel player, 6-4, for her 10th consecutive and 30th overall win.
Wong, now a winner of nine of her last 10 singles matches, defeated Reichert at flight four in straight sets. She won easily in the first, 6-2, before eking out the tie-break in the second set to score the Tigers’ third point of the afternoon.
Mijacika suffered her second consecutive three-set upset on Saturday afternoon as she fell to Marand at the top position. Marand claimed the first set by a 6-2 margin before Mijacika responded with a 6-4 win in the second. The North Carolina player then held on for a 6-3 win in the third to narrow Clemson’s lead to one at 3-2.
However, Hadziselimovic then scored the Tigers’ fourth point to clinch the match as she recorded a three-set victory over Smith at flight three. The junior from Sarajevo, Bosnia had dropped the first set, 7-5, before battling to claim the tie-break in the second set (7-2). Hadziselimovic then edged Smith by a 7-5 margin to secure the victory for Clemson.
Henry tacked on the Tigers’ fifth point with another tough three-set match at the sixth position. She claimed the first set against Fanjoy, 6-3, before falling in the second, 6-2. Henry also prevailed in a tie-break situation with the 7-0 sweep in the decider.
#12 Clemson def. #19 North Carolina, 5-2
Doubles 1. #4 Marand/Grabinski (NC) def. #8 Mijacika/Wong (CU) – 8-5 2. #27 Bek/Hadziselimovic (CU) def. #61 Smith/Tsang (NC) – 8-5 3. Luc/Henry (CU) def. Reichert/Fanjoy (NC) – 8-6 Order of Finish – 3, 2, 1
Singles 1. #61 Sanaz Marand (NC) def. #1 Ani Mijacika (CU) – 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 2. #12 Josipa Bek (CU) def. #63 Katrina Tsang (NC) – 6-0, 6-4 3. #120 Ina Hadziselimovic (CU) def. Austin Smith (NC) – 5-7, 7-6(2), 7-5 4. #102 Keri Wong (CU) def. Laura Reichert (NC) – 6-2, 7-6(3) 5. Jelena Durisic (NC) def. #101 Estefania Balda (CU) – 6-3, 6-3 6. Laurianne Henry (CU) def. Meg Fanjoy (NC) – 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(0) Order of Finish – 5, 2, 4, 1, 3, 6
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