Oct. 26, 2009

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. --- North Carolina's Sanaz Marand and Sophie Grabinski held off a furious charge from Clemson's Josipa Bek and Ina Hadziselimovic to secure an 8-6 victory in the final match of the Wilson/ITA Carolinas Regional Championships Monday at the Indoor Tennis Center on the campus of Wake Forest University. The win gives the senior duo back-to-back regional titles, as the pair triumphed in last year's ITA Southeast Regional final.

"This really topped off what was a great weekend for the team and especially those two," head coach Brian Kalbas said. "To fight off eight match points yesterday against Duke was amazing, and then to hold off a great Clemson team today shows that Sanaz and Sophie are playing at a very high level."

In Monday's final, Grabinski and Marand looked to be on the verge of a title serving with a 7-4 lead, but Clemson broke the Tar Heels and then held serve to make it 7-6. The Lady Tigers were two points away from another break of serve at love-30, but Carolina rallied to win the game and the championship.

"After dropping those two games and going down love-30, I thought they did just an amazing job of turning the momentum back in their direction to finish out the match," Kalbas said.

The victory caps what has been an incredible regional career for Marand and Grabinski. Marand, a three-time All-America selection, advanced to the regional semifinals with former teammate Caitlin Collins as a freshman. Marand then teamed with Grabinski for three straight finals appearances, culminating in consecutive titles.

By virtue of winning the regional title, Grabinski and Marand earn an automatic bid to the ITA national tournament Nov. 5-8, 2009, in New Haven, Conn.