Nov. 6, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. --- The North Carolina doubles tandem of senior Sophie Grabinski and junior Sanaz Marand opened the ITA National Indoor Championships in impressive fashion Thursday, defeating Southern Cal's Gabriela Niculescu and Maria Sanchez, 8-0. The Tar Heel duo will face third-seeded Renata Kucerova and Anastasia Petukhova of Fresno State in Friday's quarterfinals.

The top two seeds in the 16-team event were eliminated in Thursday's first round. Top-seeded Melanie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe of Fresno State lost to Notre Dame's Kristy Frilling and Kelcey Tefft, 8-3, while No. 2 Amanda Granson and Melissa Mang from Duke fell to Arkansas' Nanar Airapetian and Anouk Tigu, 8-3.