Tiger Women’s Tennis Falls To North Carolina In ACC Quarterfinals, 4-2

April 17, 2009

CARY, NC – The third-seeded and 11th-ranked Clemson women’s tennis team was upset by number-six seed North Carolina, 4-2, on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament held at the Cary Tennis Center. The Tigers fell to 17-7 for the year and will now await an NCAA Tournament bid, which is slate to begin with regional action on May 9.

The Tar Heels improved to 17-9 overall and will take on second-seeded Duke in the semifinals on Saturday at 1:00 pm.

North Carolina posted the first point of the afternoon after claiming wins at the first and second doubles positions. The tandem of Sanaz Marand and Sophie Grabinski, the nation’s #3-ranked doubles team, recorded the victory over Clemson’s Ani Mijacika and Keri Wong for the second time in six days. The Tar Heel duo won by an 8-4 margin on Friday afternoon.

Austin Smith and Katrina Tsang clinched the point for North Carolina as they avenged last weekend’s loss to Ina Hadziselimovic at flight two with their 8-3 win. The number three match-up between the Tigers’ duo of Alexandra Luc and Laurianne Henry and the Tar Heels’ team of Laura Reichert and Meg Fanjoy was not finished due to the stop-play format of the tournament.

Luc put the first point on the board for Clemson as she defeated Jelena Durisic in straight sets at flight five. The senior from Paris, France won the opening set by a 6-3 margin and then held on for a 6-4 win in the second.

Smith put North Carolina back on top with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Hadziselimovic at the third position while Marand widened the margin to 3-1 with her second win in a week over Mijacika at the top flight (6-3, 6-4). Mijacika is now 28-8 for the year but has dropped her last three matches.

Rookie Keri Wong won her match at number four to narrow the deficit to 3-2. Wong edged Grabinski by a 6-4 margin in the first set before downing the Tar Heel player, 6-1, for her 25th victory of the year.

Tsang clinched the match for North Carolina as she ended Bek’s 10-match winning streak at flight two. Tsang defeated the Clemson freshman, 6-3, in the opening set and then held on to win the second-set tie break.

#21 North Carolina def. #11 Clemson, 4-2

ACC Tournament QuarterfinalsDoubles 1. #3 Marand/Grabinski (NC) def. #6 Mijacika/Wong (CU) – 8-4 2. #61 Smith/Tsang (NC) def. #27 Bek/Hadziselimovic (CU) – 8-3 3. Reichert/Meg Fanjoy (NC) vs. Luc/Henry (CU) – dnf Order of Finish – 1, 2

Singles 1. #1 23 Sanaz Marand (NC) def. #3 Ani Mijacika (CU) – 6-3, 6-4 2. #62 Katrina Tsang (NC) def. #13 Ina Hadziselimovic (CU) – 6-4, 6-1 4. #107 Alexandra Luc (CU) def. Jelena Durisic (NC) – 6-3, 6-4 6. Laura Reichert (NC) vs. Laurianne Henry (CU) – dnf Order of Finish – 5, 3, 1, 4, 2