Northwestern
North Carolina
No. 16 Wildcats Fall to No. 5 Tar Heels
2/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 2, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's women's tennis team gave fifth-ranked North Carolina everything it could handle Sunday afternoon at the Combe Tennis Center, but came up just short in the end, 4-3. The match ends a stretch of three contests in four days for the Wildcats, who were victorious in the previous two.
North Carolina won the first two matches to secure the doubles point. However, NU's Kristi Roemer and Jamie Peisel captured an 8-6 victory at the No. 3 doubles position. The duo is now 3-0 together this season.
The 'Cats came out firing in singles play. Freshmen Cristelle Grier remained undefeated this season, dropping only one game in an impressive victory over the nation's 11th-ranked player. Jessica Rush closed her match out minutes later to put Northwestern ahead. Rush started slowly, trailing 2-3 in the first set, before winning four straight games to take the first set, and then dominating the second set.
Peisel put on a gritty performance at No. 4. She won a tiebreaker in the second set to extend the match, then carried that momentum to an easy third set win. Appropriately, the deciding match was the closest of the contest. Andrea Yung took Carolina's Aniela Mojzis to three sets before succumbing to the 61st-ranked player.
"I thought we came out very well in singles," said head coach Claire Pollard. "Give North Carolina credit, they did a really good job handling us."
The 'Cats travel to Madison, Wis. later this week to take part in the USTA/ITA National Team Indoors Championships. The event, which runs from Feb. 6-9, is the nation's premier indoor tournament and Northwestern will face some of the country's top programs.
#16 Northwestern vs. #5 North Carolina
UNC 4, NU 3
SINGLES
No. 1 #16 Cristelle Grier (NU) def. #11 Kate Pinchbeck (UNC) 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 #63 Jessica Rush (NU) def. #38 Marlene Mejia (UNC) 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 #61 Aniela Mojzis (UNC) def. Andrea Yung (NU) 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-2
No. 4 #76 Jamie Peisel (NU) def. Kendall Cline (UNC) 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1
No. 5 Lee Bairos (UNC) def. Ruth Barnes (NU) 6-3, 7-5
No. 6 Kendrick Bunn (UNC) def. Stacy Kokx (NU) 6-4, 6-1
DOUBLES
No. 1 Pinchbeck/Bunn (UNC) def. Grier/Rush (NU) 8-3
No. 2 Mejia/Mojzis (UNC) def. Yung/Barnes (NU) 8-3
No. 3 Peisel/Kristi Roemer (NU) def. Cline/Bairos 8-6
Players Mentioned
