#4 Duke Knocks Off #5 North Carolina, 6-1, In Women's Tennis

Friday, February 7

Madison, Wisc.

TBA

Duke University

North Carolina

#4 Duke Knocks Off #5 North Carolina, 6-1, In Women's Tennis

2/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

Feb. 7, 2003

MADISON, WISC.-For the ninth time in school history and third consecutive year the fourth-ranked Duke women's tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the United States Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Women's Team Indoor Championship on Friday with a 6-1 victory over fifth-ranked North Carolina at the A.C. Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison, Wisc.

The victory for Duke marks the second consecutive year the Blue Devils have defeated the Tar Heels in the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoors. Duke improves to 6-0 overall, while North Carolina falls to 5-1.

"Winning the doubles point was big," said Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth. "It was big because we didn't play our best today. This gives us a lot of confidence because we know we can come out tomorrow and play a lot better."

Duke captured the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead after completion of the doubles action. The Blue Devils received an 8-5 victory by 13th-ranked Kelly McCain/Hillary Adams over 19th-ranked Kate Pinchbeck/Kendrick Bunn at the No. 1 slot and an 8-5 win by 49th-ranked Katie Granson/Julia Smith over Lee Bairos/Kendall Cline at No. 3 to take the point. Duke's 11th-ranked duo of Julie DeRoo/Amanda Johnson fell 8-7 to 50th-ranked Aniela Mojzis/Marlene Mejia at the second slot.

Duke went up 2-0 after singles play began as second-ranked McCain easily defeated 11th-ranked Pinchbeck (6-3, 6-2) at No. 1. North Carolina responded with a 6-3, 7-6 win at No. 3 by 61st-ranked Mojzis over 36th-ranked DeRoo to cut the Blue Devil lead to 2-1.

The Blue Devils came back to win at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions to clinch the victory over the Tar Heels. At the fifth slot, 81st-ranked Katie Blaszak downed Bairos (6-7, 6-2, 6-4) and then the clinching match was at the sixth position by 98th-ranked Granson with a 6-1, 6-1 sweep of Bunn.

For the second consecutive day, Duke's 15th-ranked Johnson came back after losing the first set 1-6 to 38th-ranked Mejia before coming back to win the match, 6-4, 6-2, at the second position. At No. 4, 65th-ranked Smith also battled back after losing the first set to Cline to win 6-7, 7-6, 13-11.

"Amanda and Julia's victories were huge as they came back to win their matches after losing the first set," said Ashworth.

With the victory, Duke receives 1.5 points in the Carlyle Cup standings, which cuts the UNC lead to 12.5-10. The Carlyle Cup is a yearlong competition between Duke and North Carolina sponsored by Carlyle & Company based out of Greensboro, N.C.

Duke will next take on the winner of the top-ranked Stanford vs. 10th-ranked California match. At time of the release, California was leading 3-2 with two singles matches remaining.

Duke 6, North Carolina 1

 Doubles
  

1. McCain/Adams, DU  (13) def.  Pinchbeck/Bunn, UNC (19) 8-5
2. Mojzis/Mejia, UNC (50) def. DeRoo/Johnson, DU (11) 8-7
3. Granson/Smith,DU (49) def. Bairos/Cline, UNC 8-5
    

 Duke wins doubles point
   

Singles

 1. Kelly McCain, DU (2) def. Kate Pinchbeck, UNC (11) 6-3, 6-2
 2. Amanda Johnson, DU (15) def. Marlene Mejia, UNC (38) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
 3. Aniela Mojzis, UNC def. (61)Julie DeRoo, DU (36) 6-3, 7-6(4)
 4. Julia Smith, DU (65) def. Kendall Cline, UNC 6-7, 7-6, 13-11
 5. Katie Blaszak, DU (81) def. Lee Bairos, UNC 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4
 6.  Katie Granson, DU (98) def. Kendrick Bunn, UNC 6-1, 6-1*
 

Order of finish (singles): 1, 3, 5, 6, 2, 4