Feb. 18, 2007
Results
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) knocked off her fourth-straight top-50 opponent at No. 1 singles, but the seventh-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels outlasted the sixth-ranked Wildcats Sunday at Combe Tennis Center, 4-3. The doubles point proved to be the difference as the teams split the six singles matches.
The loss drops Northwestern to 6-3 while the Tar Heels improve to 10-3. All three of NU's losses have been by 4-3 scores to top-10 opponents.
North Carolina captured the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No.3 doubles. The 30th-ranked duo of Rose and Alexis Prousis (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) cruised to an 8-3 win for NU's only doubles victory. The pair broke Sanaz Marand and Caitlin Collins in the first game and held for a 2-0 lead. They had another break at 4-1 to extend their lead and eventually took the 8-3 victory.
At No. 2, the pair of Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) and Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) fell to Sara Anundsen and Katrina Sang, 8-5. The match stayed on serve until 3-3 when the Tar Heels broke and held serve in the next game to pull ahead 5-3. The Wildcats could never recapture the break and fell 8-5.
At No. 3, Nazlie Ghazal (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and Keri Robison (Decatur, Ill./Keystone National) fell down an early break at 2-0 and surrendered another at 4-2. They fell to Jenna Long and Austin Smith, 8-3.
Rose tied the overall score at 1-1 with a straight-set victory at No. 1 over seventh-ranked Jessica Long -- her fourth-consecutive straight-set victory over a top-50 opponent. Rose broke Long in the first game of the match and never looked back. She eased to a 6-0, 6-2 win.
UNC pulled ahead with a win at No. 5 singles. Collins defeated Ghazal in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. The first set stayed on serve until Collins took a break at 4-3 and stayed in front. The Wildcat sophomore could not regain control and lost the second set, 6-2.
The matches at No. 4 and No. 6 -- decided within seconds of each other -- proved crucial as the Wildcats fought to force third sets on both courts.
At No. 6, Robison fought off a match point at 5-3 in the second set to force the 73rd-ranked Marand to serve for the match. The Wildcat could not pick up the critical break and fell in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. With UNC maintaining a 3-1 lead, the dual came down to the match at No. 4 singles, which also had a Wildcat fighting for a third set.
After dropping the first set, Lui picked up a break for 5-3 in the second. She was broken back by Sara Aundenson for 5-4 and the Tar Heel served for the match and the dual. The deciding game went to deuce and Lui fought off four match points. She ultimately succumbed, 6-3, 6-4, and the Tar Heels seized the clincher.
NU captured the matches at No. 2 and No. 3 to force the split in singles. At No. 2, Murray needed a third-set "superbreaker" to down 19th-ranked Katrina Tsang, 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5). Murray led throughout the second set and had several match points, but the Tar Heel fought to force the abbreviated third set. Murray rolled in the breaker to give NU its second point of the dual.
Prousis downed the 33rd-ranked Smith at No. 3 in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6). After 4-4 in the second set, neither player could hold serve and seize control until the breaker. Prousis captured the close tiebreak to make the final score 4-3.
The Wildcats return to Big Ten action at 11 a.m. Friday on the road at Michigan. The 'Cats do not play another home match until March 31.