/
.
UVa Women's Tennis Defeats #17 North Carolina, 4-3, at ACC Championships
Story Links
April 20, 2001
ORLANDO, Fla. – The # 59 University of Virginia women’s tennis team defeated #17 North Carolina, 4-3, at the Atlantic Coast Conference tennis championships in Orlando, Fla. on Friday (April 20). Virginia, the tournament’s sixth seed, won two of three doubles matches and three of six singles matches to avenge an earlier (April 7) 6-1 loss to the third-seeded Tar Heels. The win was the Cavaliers’ first over a top 20 team this season. The victory also put Virginia into the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament for the first time since 1993.
Virginia’s No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams got the ‘Hoos started with wins over UNC. Christie Schweer and Henriette Williams defeated Kendrick Bunn and Kate Pinchbeck at No. 1 doubles, 8-5, while Jennifer Tuchband and Kelly Weaver beat Erin Niebling and Courtney Zalinski, 8-3, at No. 3.
UVa found itself down 3-1 after losing matches at each of the top three singles slots. Then Tuchband won her match at No. 4, 6-4, 6-4, over Kristin Koenig. Weaver also managed to win in straight sets, defeating Kendrick Bunn, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). First-year Laura James, the 2001 ACC Flight Champion at No. 5 singles, provided the most drama of the day, however, when she capped off the Virginia comeback with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) win over Lee Bairos at No. 5.
The Cavaliers will face second-seeded Wake Forest in the semifinals on Saturday (April 21) at 1:00 p.m.. The Demon Deacons were 4-0 winners over Clemson in their quarterfinal match. Wake defeated Virginia, 5-2, on April 14, in the teams’ only meeting this season.
Virginia 4, North Carolina 3
Doubles 1. Schweer/Williams (UVa) def. Bunn/Pinchbeck (UNC), 8-5.
2. Mejia/Rotundi (UNC) def. O’Donnell/Kim (UVa), 8-4. 3. Tuchband/Weaver (UVa) def. Neibling/Zalinski (UNC), 8-3.
Singles 1. Marlene Mejia (UNC) def. Amy O’Donnell (UVa), 6-3, 6-0.
2. Julie Rotondi (UNC) def. Henriette Williams (UVa), 6-4, 6-2. 3. Kate Pinchbeck (UNC) def. Christie Schweer (UVa), 6-2, 6-1.
4. Jennifer Tuchband (UVa) def. Kristin Koenig (UNC), 6-4, 6-4. 5. Laura James (UVa) def. Lee Bairos (UNC), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5).
6. Kelly Weaver (UVa) def. Courtney Zalinski (UNC), 6-2, 7-6.