Feb. 19, 2011
Event: ITA National Indoor Team Championship Quarterfinals
Site: Charlottesville, Va. (Boar's Head Tennis Club)
Score: No. 4 North Carolina 4, No. 20 Northwestern 3
Records: NU (5-4, 1-0 Big Ten) North Carolina (6-1, 0-0 ACC)
Next NU Event: Sunday, Feb. 20 vs. No. 23 Virginia ITA National Indoor Team Championship Consolation 3 p.m. CT Charlottesville, Va.
ITA National Indoor Team Championship -- Official Website
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Despite playing without a starter at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles, No. 20 Northwestern rallied to make up for the absence of the injured Brittany Wowchuk and nearly pulled off its second upset of a top-5 team in as many days. But ultimately NU fell by a 4-3 quarterfinal decision to No. 4 North Carolina Saturday evening in Charlottesville, losing at the ITA National Indoor Team Championship for the first time since 2008.
Attempting to advance to the tournament semifinals for the fifth consecutive year, Northwestern got off to a strong start by eking out the doubles point and later found itself tied at two with three matches left on the courts. The Tar Heels -- NU's opponent in the 2010 championship match - then won down-to-the-wire matches at No. 3 and finally No. 2 singles to earn the semifinal bid.
"We played good tennis tonight but North Carolina was just a little bit tougher," said Northwestern head coach Claire Pollard. "There were a few moments over the course of the match where I really believed we'd have the edge at the end of the match. We've been on the winning end of several of these 4-3 outcomes the last few years at this tournament and sooner or later it's bound to fall the other way."
As was the case in the championship match against UNC a year ago, Northwestern managed to win the doubles point thanks to tight victories at the No. 2 and 3 positions. Maria Mosolova and Belinda Niu made the move from No. 3 up to No. 2 and held off Jelena Durisic and Tessa Lyons in a tiebreaker, 9-8, while Elena Chernyakova partnered with Kate Turvy to defeat Zoe DeBruycker and Jennifer Stone, 9-7.
North Carolina responded with fairly quick victories at No. 4 and 5 singles, but NU tied the score at two when sophomore Linda Abu Mushrefova answered the call at No. 6 by coming back against Haley Hemm after dropping the first set to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
NU senior and 29th-ranked Maria Mosolova then put NU on the verge of the win as she battled to defeat No. 13 Zoe DeBruycker, 6-1, 7-6. But in two more matchups of ranked opponents, UNC's Jelena Durisic edged NU's Kate Turvy 6-4 in the third set of their No. 3 match while No. 75 Shinann Featherston won consecutive games to close out a back-and-forth 7-6, 7-5 win over Wildcats freshman Belinda Niu who fell to 6-3 in dual singles matches this season.
Northwestern will remain in Charlottesville to face host and 23rd-ranked Virginia in consolation round action at 3 p.m. CT Sunday.
Complete results from Saturday's quarterfinal matchup can be found below.
No. 4 North Carolina 4, No. 20 Northwestern 3
Singles:
1: #29 Maria Mosolova (NU) def. #13 Zoe DeBruycker (UNC), 6-1, 7-6
2: #75 Shinann Featherston (UNC) def. #100 Belinda Niu (NU), 7-6, 7-5
3: #119 Jelena Durisic (UNC) def. #98 Kate Turvy (NU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
4: Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) def. Nida Hamilton (NU), 6-2, 6-3
5: #93 Lauren McHale (UNC) def. Stacey Lee (NU), 6-2, 6-1
6: Linda Abu Mushrefova (NU) def. Haley Hemm (UNC), 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
Doubles:
1: #6 Featherston/McHale (UNC) def. #15 Abu Mushrefova/Hamilton (NU), 8-2
2: #58 Mosolova/Niu (NU) def. Durisic/Lyons (UNC), 9-8
3: Chernyakova/Turvy (NU) def. DeBruycker/Stone (UNC), 9-7
Order of Finish:
Singles (1, 2, 3*)
Doubles (4, 5, 6, 1, 3, 2*)
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