Wake Forest University
North Carolina
Deacs Fall to No. 3 Tar Heels 5-2
3/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 20, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's tennis team clinched the doubles point and picked up a win at the top singles position but fell 5-2 to No. 3 North Carolina on Sunday afternoon at Leighton Stadium.
The No. 47 Demon Deacons drop to 6-7 (0-3 ACC) while the Tar Heels improve to 13-3 (2-0 ACC).
22nd-ranked Kathryn Talbert and Kayla Duncan picked up a huge upset victory at the top doubles position, taking down fifth-ranked Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale 9-8 (2). At No. 1 singles, No. 30 Martina Pavelec picked up her best win of the season, defeating No. 14 Zoe De Bruycker 7-5, 6-4.
The Deacs battled back to claim the doubles point in dramatic fashion after trailing early in all three matches. After falling behind at the No. 3 position, Ryan Cutillo and Anna Mydlowska came back to trail by just one game at 7-6, but were unable to come any closer as North Carolina's Jelena Durisic and Haley Hemm clinched the 8-6 victory for the Tar Heels.
The duo of Martina Pavelec and Emilee Malvehy also found themselves trailing 3-0 early to Zoe De Bruycker and Gina Suarez-Malaguti, but the Deacs would go on to take six straight games to build a 6-3 lead.
Suarez-Malaguti and De Bruycker claimed one more game, but Pavelec and Malvehy finished strong on their final serves to close the game out at 8-6.
The deciding doubles match of the afternoon now came at the No. 1 position where Duncan and Talbert battled Featherston and McHale. Neither team could break serve early, as the Deacs trailed 2-1, but North Carolina would go on to win five of the next seven games to take a 7-3 lead. Duncan and Talbert then responded with four straight victories of their own to tie the score at seven games apiece.
The teams split the next two games to force a deciding seven-point tiebreaker. North Carolina won the first point on the tiebreaker, but the Deacs were in control for the rest of the way, as they won 7-2 behind strong serves from both Duncan and Talbert.
In singles play, No. 30 Pavelec picked up the lone win of the day for the Deacons as she upset No. 14 De Bruycker in straight sets by a score of 7-5, 6-4. Pavelec has now defeated six ranked opponents this season, the most of any Wake Forest player.
With the victory, Pavelec extended her combined winning streak to 13 matches. The Stuttgart, Germany native currently leads the team with a 19-6 singles record. She is also 17-6 in doubles, including 7-0 with current partner Emilee Malvehy.
At the No. 2 position, Talbert dropped a 7-6 heartbreaker in her first set against Durisic, and although she fought back in the second set after being down 5-0, she eventually fell 6-3.
The clinching match of the day came at the No. 4 position where North Carolina's Suarez-Malaguti defeated Duncan in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
The Deacs will return to the court Saturday afternoon at noon when they host Clemson at Leighton Stadium.
#3 UNC 5, #47 Wake Forest 2
Singles
1. #30 Martina Pavelec (WF) def. #14 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) 7-5, 6-4
2. Jelena Durisic (UNC) def. Kathryn Talbert (WF) 7-6, 6-3
3. #61 Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. Emilee Malvehy (WF) 6-1, 6-4
4. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Kayla Duncan (WF) 6-4, 6-3
5. #108 Lauren McHale (UNC) def. Ryan Cutillo (WF) 6-3, 7-5
6. Tessa Lyons (UNC) def. Brigita Bercyte (WF) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles
1. #22 Kayla Duncan/Kathryn Talbert (WF) def. #5 Shinann Featherston/Lauren McHale (UNC) 9-8 (2)
2. Emilee Malvehy/Martina Pavelec (WF) def. Zoe De Bruycker/Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) 8-4
3. Jelena Durisic/Haley Hemm (UNC) def. Ryann Cutillo/Anna Mydlowska (WF) 8-6
Match Notes:
North Carolina 13-3; National ranking #3
Wake Forest 6-7; National ranking #47
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1*); Singles (3, 5, 2, 4*, 1, 6)
Players Mentioned
