W. Tennis: UNC clinches dramatic victory

After defeats that cost the No. 18 North Carolina women's tennis team only its third doubles point in 23 matches this season Laura Reichert and Katrina Tsang bounced their rackets on the court in anger and frustration.

The Tar Heels found themselves needing wins in four of the six singles matches to spoil the upset bid of Virginia after falling into an early 1-0 hole. Making the challenge even more daunting was that Sophie Grabinski a regular in the singles lineup for the Tar Heels" could only watch from the sidelines.

Grabinski swapped her tennis shoes and racket for a pair of sunglasses and sandals due to an injury on Wednesday.

""I definitely was disappointed about the doubles because we've been doing really well in doubles" junior Katrina Tsang said. For us to lose it for the third time this year" it stung.""

Coach Brian Kalbas" sensing his team needed a mental boost after its setback in doubles" called them together for a pep talk.

""There are still six points in play"" Kalbas said during a brief speech to the team between doubles and singles play, urging his team to fight for every match.

Three hours later, the Tar Heels were all smiles — they had heeded Kalbas' message and clawed out a 4-3 victory against the Cavaliers.

Kalbas was right; each singles point was very much in play for UNC, as every match featured plenty of momentum shifts. Three of the six matches stretched into three sets.

The easiest victory came at No. 2 singles, where Sanaz Marand won in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. But even Marand had to sweat a bit after she fell behind 2-0 in the second set.

We stayed focused" we didn't hang our heads … we didn't let anything get to us" Kalbas said. We were definitely more resilient today than we've been in the past.""

Of the matches that went to three sets" UNC needed to win two of the three to clinch victory. Tsang rallied to win 2-6 6-4 6-3 and put the Tar Heels on top" but UVa. responded with a Claire Bartlett victory to tie the match at 3-3.

That left the result of Meg Fanjoy's match at No. 6 singles to determine the contest's outcome.

 ""I was trying just to stay calm. I knew it came down to me but kind of not think about it"" Fanjoy said. I was just trying to play point by point.""

Fanjoy pulled ahead to earn a chance to serve out the match at 5-4 but failed to convert in a game that lasted multiple deuces.

But she immediately broke back to get a 6-5 advantage and didn't falter in her second chance to serve out the victory. She gave a fist pump as her opponent's last return sailed deep.

""My serve got a little tight" but knowing after I came back and won the next game I felt good about it she said. This is the first time it's come down to me" so I'm very excited.""



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