Powerful Singles Play Lifts Duke Over UNC, 4-1, In NCAA Sweet 16

Thursday, May 18

Palo Alto, Calif.

9 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina - Round of 16

Powerful Singles Play Lifts Duke Over UNC, 4-1, In NCAA Sweet 16

5/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

PALO ALTO, Calif. ? The 10th-ranked and eighth-seeded Duke women's tennis team will make its 13th appearance in the NCAA quarterfinal Friday after rallying for the second time this year to top Atlantic Coast Conference and crosstown rival North Carolina, 4-1, Thursday at the Taube South court at Stanford University. Falling behind by losing the doubles point, Duke won four straight-set singles matches for its second consecutive victory over the Tar Heels.

“Obviously we are familiar with UNC,” said head coach Jamie Ashworth, “and today was kind of a similar match to the last time we played them. Last time we lost close doubles and won 1,2,3 and 4 singles. We're a little deeper than they are, so I felt like going into the match if we could win 4,5,6 we would put a lot of pressure on them, and we were able to do that.”

Fighting to avenge a doubles-point loss to UNC in the regular season, Duke played the closest doubles matches it has had all year with all three going to nine points and two being decided by tiebreakers, but the Tar Heels narrowly claimed the point for the 1-0 lead.

North Carolina's pair of Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith claimed a commanding early lead over Tara Iyer and Jessi Robinson, leading 7-2, but the Blue Devil duo made an incredible comeback at No. 3, winning seven straight games for the 9-7 victory in the first match to finish.

One court over, Jackie Carleton and Melissa Mang fought back after starting down 1-3 to pull within one. Caitlin Collins and Tanja Markovic responded with the next game, making the score 2-4, but the Blue Devils took the next three to go up for the first time, 5-4. The score would then be tied at 5-5, 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8 before Carolina finally pulled out a 7-5 tiebreaking win.

The attention turned to the top court, where No. 31 Daniela Bercek and Jennifer Zika were battling No. 6 Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long. Bercek and Zika fell behind 4-1 before beginning their comeback. At 2-5, the pair claimed three games in a row to knot the score at 5-5, the first of five ties in the match. Bercek and Zika and Anundsen and Long traded each of the next six games until the 8-8 score forced a tiebreaker, one that the Carolina pair won by a 7-3 margin.

A determined Duke team charged onto the singles courts and put up 3-0 scores on courts three through six in the first set. Blue Devils on all four middle courts won their first sets by margins of 6-2 or better, led by Iyer, who posted a 6-0 over Smith at No. 4.

No. 88 Iyer lost her first game and trailed 1-2 after opening the second set but came back with six winning games to put Duke on the scoreboard, defeating Smith, 6-0, 6-2. Carleton, who never fell behind in her match against Collins, followed one minute later at No. 2, giving Duke its first advantage. Thirty-second ranked Carleton extended her career-best win streak to 10 matches while winning the 20th of her 2006 dual season (20-3).

Next to finish was sophomore Clelia Deltour on court five. Deltour, ranked 102nd, earned a dominant 4-0 lead in the first set on her way to winning 6-2 and then went up 4-0 again in her second set, which she took, 6-3, over Laura Reichert.

Not long after, Robinson polished off Markovic at No. 6 by winning 6-3, 6-1. Robinson's victory earned her her third match-clincher of the year as Duke won, 4-1. No. 71 Mang won her first set against Anundsen, 6-2, at No. 3, and the score was tied 5-5 in the second when play was suspended. Fourth-ranked Bercek was the only Blue Devil to lose her first set, as No. 38 Long topped her, 6-3, but the Duke junior was on a roll in the second set when play was stopped at 5-2.

After not reaching at least 20 wins in 2005 for the first time under Ashworth's tenure, the 2006 Blue Devils improved to 20-7 with their win Thursday night. Duke hits the courts again Friday when it faces host Stanford at 6 p.m. at Taube Stadium. Top-seeded Stanford defeated Texas Christian, 4-0, Thursday to advance to Friday's quarterfinal. Duke is 2-6 all-time against The Cardinal, and Stanford last won in the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Championships Round of 16
May 18, 2006
Taube South Courts

Doubles
1. Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long-6 (NC) vs. Daniela Bercek and Jennifer Zika-31 (D), 9-8(3)
2. Caitlin Collins and Tanja Markovic (NC) vs. Jackie Carleton and Melissa Mang (D), 9-8(5)
3. Tara Iyer and Jessi Robinson (D) def. Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith (NC), 9-7
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles
1. Jenna Long-38 (NC) vs. Daniela Bercek-4 (D), 6-3, 2-5 -- DNF
2. Jackie Carleton-32 (D) def. Caitlin Collins-75 (NC), 6-1, 6-0
3. Melissa Mang-71 (D) vs. Sara Anundsen-103 (NC), 6-2, 5-5 -- DNF
4. Tara Iyer-88 (D) def. Austin Smith (NC), 6-0, 6-2
5. Clelia Deltour-102 (D) def. Laura Reichert (NC), 6-2, 6-3
6. Jessi Robinson (D) def. Tanja Markovic (NC), 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 4, 2, 5, 6
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