Service problems doom Marand, UNC women's tennis

CARY — “Sorry,” North Carolina women’s tennis player Sanaz Marand yelled across the net to her singles opponent, Georgia Tech’s Irina Falconi.

It was the third time in a row that Marand had attempted her toss, only to have to start again after an unexpected gust of wind.

On her fourth try, Marand threw another erratic toss but decided to hit the serve. The ball landed in the net, as did many of Marand’s first serves throughout the match.

“It’s hard to serve in the wind,” coach Brian Kalbas said. “When the wind is blowing everywhere, it’s hard to get a good toss.”

“You never know when a gust of wind is going to come up, so it’s difficult. That’s the strength of our team, our serving, and when you take that away, it neutralizes pretty much everything.”

The poor serving that resulted from the gusty wind was a key factor in No. 22 Marand’s 1-6, 6-3, 4-6 loss to No. 1 Falconi. The loss gave the deciding point to Georgia Tech, who won the ACC Championship against North Carolina.

Falconi started out the match strong, taking advantage of Marand’s myriad of second serves to power her way to the net and hit winners. After Marand and Falconi traded breaks to begin the match, Falconi won the last five games to close out the set 6-1.

But Marand responded with a 6-3 victory in the second set, using the wind to her advantage and keeping Falconi away from the net. Marand hit deep lobs to keep Falconi on the baseline, and came to the net to finish off points.

“I kept pushing her back and being aggressive,” Marand said. “When I got the short ball, I just came in and finished.”

But Marand’s serving problems continued into the decisive third set, where Marand and Falconi traded breaks seven times in the set.

Marand was able to get back on serve at 4-4, and leading 40-15 in the game, Marand had an opportunity to pull within one game of taking the match. But Falconi took advantage of Marand’s weak serves and broke Marand to take a 5-4 lead.

“At 4-4, 40-15, I was feeling that this was (Marand’s) time,” Kalbas said. “(Falconi) stepped up on some second serves and really was aggressive and served and volleyed on big points.”

Despite fighting off three match points, Marand finally cracked under the power of Falconi’s aggressive play.

“There were elements in the match where the player that is more aggressive and takes a little more chances could be rewarded,” Kalbas said. “And that’s what happened.”

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