Feb. 25, 2006
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- It came down to the third set of the day's final match, but Northwestern's sixth-ranked women's tennis team was edged by No. 10 North Carolina Saturday, despite winning at the top three singles spots. The Wildcats took one doubles match and got singles wins from Cristelle Grier (Epsom, England/Putney), Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) in the loss.
After Grier and Prousis fell to UNC's 10th-ranked team of Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long 8-1 at No. 1 doubles, Rose and Feriel Esseghir (Sarasota, Fla./Brickhouse Academy) topped the Tarheels 47th-ranked team of Caitlin collins and Laura Reichert 8-2 at the No. 2 spot.
North Carolina's 48th-ranked team of Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith then topped Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and Jamie Peisel (Savannah, Ga./Savannah Country Day) 8-4 at the No. 3 doubles position, securing the doubles point for the Tarheels.
North Carolina extended it's lead with two early singles wins.
Smith made it 2-0 North Carolina when she took a straight set win over Peisel at No. 4 6-1, 6-2.
Reichert followed suit by taking a decision over Esseghir at No. 5 singles 6-3, 6-1.
With North Carolina needing only one more win to take the match, the Wildcats roared back with three-consecutive singles wins.
Tenth-ranked Grier came through first, beating the Tarheels' 21st-ranked Jenna Long 7-6 (11-9), 6-0 at the No. 1 spot.
Prousis cut the UNC lead to just one by topping UNC's 56th-ranked Collins. Collins took the first set, but Prousis battled back in the second and third and took the No. 3 singles match 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Rose tied the match at 3-3 when she recorded a win at No. 2 -- her 13th-consecutive victory. Rose topped UNC's 62nd -ranked Anundsen 7-5, 6-2 at the No. 2 position.
With the outcome of the match depending on just one result, all eyes turned to Ghazal and Fanjoy at No. 6. After winning her first set, Ghazal battled but fell in the second and third sets, giving Fanjoy the 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.
With the loss, Northwestern drops to 7-2 on the season.
The Wildcats return to action when they face Duke at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26.
#10 North Carolina 4, #6 Northwestern 3
Doubles: 1. No. 10 Sara Anundsen/Jenna Long (UNC) d. No. 8 Cristelle Grier/Alexis Prousis (NW) 8-1 2. Feriel Esseghir/Georgia Rose (NW) d. No. 47 Caitlin Collins/Laura Reichert (UNC) 8-4 3. No. 48 Meg Fanjoy/Austin Smith (UNC) d. Nazlie Ghaza/Jamie Peisel (NW) 8-4 Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles: 1. No. 23 Cristelle Grier (NW) d. No. 21 Jenna Long (UNC) 7-6 (11-9), 6-0 2. Georgia Rose (NW) d. No. 62 Sara Anundsen (UNC) 7-5, 6-2 3. No. 12 Alexis Prousis (NW) d. No. 56 Caitlin Collins (UNC) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 4. Austin Smith (UNC) d. Jamie Peisel (NW) 6-1, 6-2 5. Laura Reichert (UNC) d. Feriel Essenghir (NW) 6-3, 6-1 6. Meg Fanjoy (UNC) d. Nazlie Ghaza (NW) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 * Order of finish: 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6 * Clinched the match