April 8, 2008

DURHAM, N.C. --- No. 15 North Carolina dropped to the doubles point and could not recover in singles play as the Tar Heels fell to No. 7 Duke, 5-2, Tuesday afternoon at Ambler Tennis Stadium. Carolina, which got singles wins from sophomore Sanaz Marand and junior Meg Fanjoy, slipped to 14-7 (5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), while the Blue Devils improved to 14-3 (7-2 ACC).

With the win, Duke receives one point in the 2007-08 Carlyle Cup, the annual all-sports competition between the two schools. The Tar Heels currently lead the competition by a 15-5 margin. The Carlyle Cup is sponsored by Carlyle & Co., a Greensboro-based jeweler and fans can visit www.carlylecup.com for more information.

All three doubles matches were ultimately one-sided, with Duke scoring a pair of 8-3 wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to take the point. No. 51 Austin Smith and Katrina Tsang dominated Jessi Robinson and Tory Zawacki at No. 2, picking up an impressive 8-1 victory. In a meeting of top-5 doubles tandems, No. 5 Melissa Mang and Amanda Granson were victorious over No. 3 Marand and Sophie Grabinski at No. 1.

Carolina started strong in singles, taking early leads in four of six matches and giving the Tar Heels hope for a comeback. But the hosts would respond, and Duke took the opening set on four courts. The Blue Devils quickly built a 3-0 lead thanks to straight-set wins by No. 17 Reka Zsilinszka over No. 97 Smith at No. 3 and Granson over Grabinksi at No. 5.

No. 4 singles was next off, and Mang's 6-4, 6-1 win over junior Laura Reichert clinched the dual match win for Duke. Fanjoy's win came shortly after, as the Statesville, N.C., product finished off Robinson at No. 6, 6-1, 6-4.

No. 8 Marand gave UNC its second win of the day, improving to 18-1 in dual matches and 6-1 in ACC play with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 win over Tara Iyer at the top position.

A top-30 matchup between No. 29 Tsang and No. 15 Ellah Nze was the final match to conclude, as the Duke freshman outlasted the Tar Heel sophomore, 6-4, 7-6 (6).

Carolina will conclude its regular season schedule this weekend with road matches at Virginia and Virginia Tech. The Tar Heels and Cavaliers will meet on Saturday at noon.

DOUBLES
1. #5 Mang/Granson (D) def. #3 Marand/Grabinski (UNC), 8-3
2. #51 Smith/Tsang (UNC) def. Robinson/Tory Zawacki (D), 8-1
3. Zsilinszka/Nze (D) def. Reichert/Alexandra Jurewitz (UNC), 8-3
Order of finish: 2,3,1*

SINGLES
1. #8 Sanaz Marand (UNC) def. Tara Iyer (D) 6-3, 4-6, 10-6
2. #15 Ellah Nze (D) def. #29 Katrina Tsang (UNC) 6-4, 7-6 (6)
3. #17 Reka Zsilinszka (D) def. #97 Austin Smith (UNC) 6-2, 6-0
4. Melissa Mang (D) def. Laura Reichert (UNC) 6-4, 6-1
5. Amanda Granson (D) def. Sophie Grabinski (UNC) 6-3, 6-0
6. Meg Fanjoy (UNC) def. Jessi Robinson (D) 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 5,3,4*, 6,1,2