CHAPEL HILL -- Although the North Carolina women have found recent success on the basketball court by winning the national championship, another UNC women's team had no luck on the court -- the tennis court -- as the 10th-ranked Duke women's tennis team soundly defeated the Tar Heels Thursday.
The Blue Devils (11-4, 4-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) easily won the match 8-1, with the only loss coming at No. 2 doubles, which Duke defaulted. The team only dropped two sets in its domination of UNC, despite less than ideal weather conditions.
"There were tough conditions today, cool and windy, and [the UNC courts] are slower than ours," head coach Geoff Macdonald said.
In singles action, junior Wendy Lyons easily defeated Nicole Transon 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 1 position, as did junior Monica Mraz, who beat out Ariana Cervenka 7-5, 6-1 at No. 2. Freshman Karen O'Sullivan had little trouble disposing of her opponent, Freddy Vihlein, 6-2, 6-2, and fellow freshman Kim Schiff also won 6-2, 7-5 against Scotti Thomas. Senior Hillary McKinney completed the singles sweep at the No. 6 position by defeating Alison Levy 6-2, 6-4.
The most exciting match of the day came at No. 4 singles, where freshman Wendy Fix fought through a grueling four-hour match against J.C. Biber. Biber reached match point four times, yet Fix fought back each time. After losing the first set 6-7, Fix worked through another tie-breaker situation in the second set, winning 7-6. Then, after being behind 1-5 (0-30) in the final set, Fix made an incredible comeback to win in another tie-breaker, 7-6.
"[Fix] won a match when she didn't play well," Macdonald said. "She fought."
In doubles, Mraz and Lyons needed little time to defeat Cervenka and Vihlein at the No. 1 position, 6-1, 6-2, while McKinney and senior Meredith Lukoff, playing in her first match of the season, lost the second set before storming back to win in the third set, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
After the team's dramatic win over fourth-ranked Florida on Saturday, combined with a stressful time in the academic year, Duke was mentally fatigued, according to Macdonald. Although North Carolina does not have a great deal of strength, the UNC-Duke match is always challenging because of the intense rivalry between the two schools. Yet the easy win in the match was a good indication of how the Blue Devils can play under a combination of these factors.
"We've been playing tough competition all year, and this was another good match," Macdonald said.
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