WOMEN'S TENNIS
Davidson - 0
UNC - 7
Elon - 0
UNC - 7
Fresh off a disappointing ITA National Team Indoor Championships the No. 13 North Carolina women's tennis flexed its muscles Thursday against a pair of overmatched foes crushing Davidson and Elon by 7-0 scores.
No Tar Heel dropped a single set in either match and the wins gave the team a chance to relax and laugh a bit after suffering its first two losses of the season last weekend against No. 7 Baylor and No. 11 Stanford.
But the Tar Heels (9-2) weren't just smiling at their success — they had more fun with their mistakes.
After missing an easy volley wide in a doubles match Sanaz Marand couldn't help but giggle and run to joke with partner Katrina Tsang about how bad her shot was.
And Laura Reichert immediately showed the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center crowd a mouth-open" ""I-can't-believe-I-just-hit-that"" face after she shanked a slam about 20 feet long of the court.
""It's nice to be home" coach Brian Kalbas said. I told them to have fun being able to play in your own environment" and I think they definitely showed that.""
Marand" last week's ACC Player of the Week continued her hot streak with two singles victories and two doubles wins. She constantly pushed her opponents all over the court with an assortment of slams" drop shots and ground-stroke winners.
""I've just been trying to stay focused and do what I need to do" and from that (success) just comes" Marand said.
Kalbas said he thinks Marand will continue to improve her mental game and gain confidence with each match.
Down the road for her it's going to keep getting better and better.""
Seldom-used freshmen Jocelyn Ffriend" Haley Hemm and Stefi Gjine excelled in some of their first dual match experience" contributing to six wins in singles and doubles.
""My hands were shaking for all of the first set and half of the second set in the first match" Ffriend said. I was a little tight" but I think I handled my nerves well.""
Kalbas said he wanted to get his young players on the court so that they could feel the pressure of a dual match"" and he was impressed with the dominance they displayed.
""It's so refreshing to see freshmen that excited and that hungry to play" he said. They were really focused" … they just took care of business.""
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
