Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
North Carolina
No. 27 Hoosiers Drop Heartbreaker to No. 6 Tar Heels
3/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 4, 2006
Results
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 27 Indiana women's tennis team dropped to 9-4 on the season after it fell in a heartbreaker to No. 6 North Carolina on March 4 at the Indiana Tennis Center. After UNC claimed the doubles point, the Hoosiers' brilliant singles play knotted the match at two. Despite taking three matches to the wire, IU could not hold on as the Tar Heels walked away with the 5-2 victory in Bloomington.
"Overall, I am pleased with today," Indiana head coach Lin Loring said. "We didn't play as well in doubles as we can and that was disappointing. However, we played extremely well in singles. I thought that we played UNC the best that we have played any top-20 team this season, let alone a top-10 team. We matched up well against North Carolina. It was a matter of believing that we can compete with top teams, and I think we proved that to ourselves today."
For only the third time this season, IU lost the doubles point. Senior Sarah Batty and junior Laura McGaffigan fell to the No. 10 pair of Jenna Long and Sara Anundsen, 8-2, in the No. 1 position. Long and Anundsen are the third ranked pair Batty and McGaffigan have faced this season. The loss dropped the Hoosier twosome to 10-3.
Sophomore Brianna Williams and freshman Sigrid Fischer improved their record to 10-2 at No. 2 doubles after defeating their second-ranked opponent of the season in North Carolina's No. 45 Caitlin Collins and Laura Reichert, 8-5. Williams and Fischer took the early 3-0 lead and never looked back. Collins and Reichert are the fourth ranked foe the two have faced this season.
In the No. 3 slot, junior Cecile Perton and freshman Alba Berdala fell to UNC's No. 46 team of Austin Smith and Meg Fanjoy, 8-1. Perton and Berdala are now 9-3 this year.
In doubles exhibition action, freshmen Stephanie Heller and March Calvo defeated Hanes Harris and Alexandra Jurewitz, 8-4.
In singles, Williams fell at the No. 3 position to No. 62 Anundsen, 6-3, 6-1. The Tampa, Fla., product dropps to 7-4 this season and 6-4 in the No. 3 slot.
McGaffigan, at No. 2 singles, claimed her first win of the season over a ranked opponent when she topped No. 56 Collins, 6-3, 6-2. McGaffigan is now 9-4 in singles this year. So far in 2006, the Davenport, Iowa product has faced five ranked competitors. Additionally, the victory over Collins is the second win over a ranked foe in dual play of her career.
To tie the match at two, Fischer defeated Fanjoy 7-5 in the first set before cruising through to win the second, 6-2 at the No. 5 position. Fischer is 10-3 in singles and has the fewest losses of any Hoosier this season.
With the match even at two, Batty at No. 1 singles, Berdala at No. 4 and Perton at No. 6 all entered the third set of their respective matches.
At No. 1 singles, Batty rolled through the first set, 6-3, against No. 21 Long. After dropping the second set, 6-2, and being down 4-0 in the third, Batty demonstrated her toughness and claimed three straight points. Despite Batty's resilience, Long won the third set, 6-3. So far in her final season as a Hoosier, Batty is 8-5 in singles, and Long is the sixth ranked opponent Batty has seen in her senior campaign.
Berdala split two matches with Smith in the No. 5 position, 6-4, but North Carolina clinched the match as Smith won the final set, 6-2. Berdala now sits at 8-5 in singles and 6-3 at the five slot.
To round out the match, Perton took UNC's Tanja Markovic to the brink. Markovic got the best of Perton in the first set, 6-4, but the Briey, France native stormed back to win the second set, 6-3. Although Perton battled back to tighten the set with Markovic, the Tar Heel claimed the third set, 6-4.
The No. 27 Hoosiers open the 2006 Big Ten slate on Sunday, March 5 against Penn State. The match is slated for 10 a.m., at the Indiana Tennis Center. Coach Loring stands only four wins away from his 300th conference victory.
Players Mentioned
