Clemson - 2
UNC - 4
Duke - 4
UNC - 2
A surprising run for the North Carolina women's tennis team came to an end Saturday against Duke.
On Friday sixth-seeded North Carolina toppled No. 11 Clemson the third seed to make the semifinals but the Tar Heels met their match against No. 3 Duke's top talent.
The top-seeded Blue Devils (23-3 10-1 ACC) went on to capture the ACC Tournament title Sunday.
After falling in doubles the No. 21 Tar Heels' top three singles players lost in straight sets to seal the 4-2 defeat.
Seniors Sophie Grabinski and Laura Reichert pulled off victories at No. 4 and No. 6 to put the Tar Heels on the scoreboard.
Jelena Durisic would have given UNC another point as she led her opponent 7-5 5-4 but her match was called after the team outcome was sealed with No. 33 Ellah Nze's win against UNC's Katrina Tsang.
Duke established the early lead in doubles play with an 8-1 win at No. 3 and an 8-6 victory by Jessi Robinson and Mallory Cecil against Tsang and Austin Smith.
Playing at the No. 2 spot Tsang and Smith had a 6-5 lead but Duke pulled off three straight to win the match.
On Friday against the Tigers UNC (18-10 6-5 ACC) cruised to two quick doubles wins for its first point and then got two big upsets to survive in the tournament.
No. 23 Sanaz Marand defeated Ani Mijacika the third-ranked player in the country in a 6-3 6-4 win.
That win came in a rematch of their April 11 meeting when Mijacika — then rated as the best in the country — fell to Marand in a three-set battle.
The second upset finished off the Tar Heels' win over Clemson (17-7 9-2 ACC) in the quarterfinals. No. 62 Tsang took the first set 6-3 and held on in the tiebreak to beat No. 13 Josipa Bek.
The Tar Heels are now awaiting their seeding for the NCAA Tournament which starts May 9.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
