University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
North Carolina
No. 22 Tennis Outlasts No. 12 UNC 4-3
January 21, 2008 | Women's Tennis
Box Score??|??Photo Gallery
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ??? Fans at the Goodfriend Tennis Center definitely got their money???s worth on Monday, as they were treated to a full day of tennis between No. 22 Tennessee and 12th-ranked North Carolina. The marathon match finally ended seven hours and seven minutes after it began, with the Lady Vols emerging victorious, 4-3, over the visiting Tar Heels. The win marked the best by a UT squad since it defeated No. 11 Texas, 5-2, on April 14, 2006.
???This was just a great college match,??? UT co-head coach Mike Patrick said. ???We weren???t perfect, but we were tougher when it counted. That???s what is great about collegiate tennis. It is a true team game.
???We are proud of our entire team,??? Patrick said. ???It took contributions from everyone on our roster to beat a team as talented as North Carolina. The next step is to take this win and continue to build off it as the year continues.???
The Big Orange was able to fight off a number of North Carolina advances en route to claiming the all-important doubles point and the initial lead of the match. The Tar Heels, however, struck the first blow with the duo of Katrina Tsang and Laura Reichert winning 8-2 on the third court over the UT pairing of sophomore Connor Vogel and freshman Jennifer Meredith.
That would be all UNC would get though, as the 26th-ranked team of senior Ghizela Schutte and freshman Rosal??a Alda got Tennessee back on track with an 8-5 triumph over Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith at the No. 2 position in the lineup.
The victory set up two of the top-10 teams in the nation to play on center court for the chance to give their team the early lead. Although the second-ranked Big Orange tandem of sophomores Caitlin Whoriskey and Zs??fia Zubor held a two-game advantage throughout the beginning portions of the contest, the No. 8-rated duo of Sanaz Marand and Sophia Grabinski was able to fight back to tie it up at 7-7.
The Lady Vols did not give in, however, breaking Grabinski???s serve on the very next point to go back ahead, 8-7. Behind strong serving by Zubor, UT moved to match point shortly thereafter, before a beautiful backhand volley by Whoriskey clinched the contest and doubles tally for the Orange and White. The triumph marked the pairing???s 15th of the season and improved its record against ranked opponents to 8-1.
Not to be taken down without a fight, North Carolina came out swinging at the beginning of singles play, winning the first three contests to take a commanding 3-1 lead. First to fall was Vogel on the second court, where the 14th-ranked Marand cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over the Germantown, Tenn., product. The Tar Heels second point of the day came at the fourth slot in the lineup, as freshman Jelena Durisic downed UT junior Samantha Orlin, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. In what turned out to be UNC???s final victory of the contest, No. 72 Smith claimed a straight-set, 6-4, 7-5, decision over Schutte on court three.
With its collective back against the wall, Tennessee began to mount an almost improbable comeback attempt. Meredith was the next Lady Vol to finish, narrowing the gap on the scoreboard to just a point with an impressive 6-1, 6-2 victory over Reichert at the fifth position in the lineup. Then it was Whoriskey???s turn.
After splitting the first two sets with Tsang, the Boca Raton, Fla., native found herself down 0-40 with the score tied at 5-5 in the third frame. She did not give in though, and won five straight points to stay alive and earn an opportunity to break Tsang???s serve and win the match. The spectacular sophomore was able to accomplish just that, doing so on her third attempt at break point, as a Tsang forehand landed just outside the right-side line.
With the match now knotted at three for each squad, all eyes turned to court six where the 95th-ranked Zubor and Fanjoy were about to engage in an epic battle. Fanjoy looked to be in control early on, jumping out to a 5-2 lead in the first set. It was at that point, however, that Zubor found her stride and won five consecutive games to claim the initial frame, 7-5. The UNC junior struck back though, winning the second set by a score of 6-4. The two players had battled to a 4-4 tie before Fanjoy strung together back-to-back games to tie the match and send it into a deciding third frame.
In the final set of evening, Zubor decided she had seen enough and put up the first three tallies to take a seemingly insurmountable, 3-0, lead. Fanjoy had other ideas, however, and bounced back to take a 6-5 advantage with four consecutive games going her way. Despite the fact that the odds were stacked against her, momentum had reversed direction and all the pressure had been placed on her, Zubor showed a true fighting spirit and battled through the final three games of the day to claim an 8-6 triumph and give her team the 4-3 victory.
The Orange and White will now begin preparations to host a pair of Big Ten squads in Illinois and No. 49 Purdue next weekend. First serve against the Fighting Illini will be at Noon on Jan. 26th, while UT???s contest versus the Boilermakers will begin at 1 p.m. on Jan. 27th at the Knoxville Racquet Club.
No. 22 University of Tennessee 4, No. 12 University of North Carolina 3
| SINGLES | ||||
| 1. | Caitlin Whoriskey (UT) | def. | Katrina Tsang (UNC) | 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 |
| 2. | No. 14 Sanaz Marand (UNC) | def. | Connor Vogel (UT) | 6-2, 6-0 |
| 3. | No. 72 Austin Smith (UNC) | def. | Ghizela Schutte (UT) | 6-4, 7-5 |
| 4. | Jelena Durisic (UNC) | def. | Samantha Orlin (UT) | 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 |
| 5. | Jennifer Meredith (UT) | def. | Laura Reichert (UNC) | 6-1, 6-2 |
| 6. | No. 95 Zsofia Zubor (UT) | def. | Meg Fanjoy (UNC) | 7-5, 4-6, 8-6 |
| DOUBLES | ||||
| 1. | No. 2 Caitlin Whoriskey/Zsofia Zubor (UT) | def. | No. 8 Sanaz Marand/Sophia Grabinski (UNC) | 9-7 |
| 2. | No. 26 Ghizela Schutte/Rosalia Alda (UT) | def. | Austin Smith/Meg Fanjoy (UNC) | 8-5 |
| 3. | Katrina Tsang/Laura Reichert (UNC) | def. | Connor Vogel/Jennifer Meredith (UT) | 8-2 |
MATCH NOTES
No. 12 University of North Carolina - 2-0
No. 22 University of Tennessee - 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,4,3,5,1,6)
