Blue Devils Rally To Pull Out Upset Of No. 5 North Carolina

Wednesday, April 5

Durham, N.C.

4 p.m.

Duke University

North Carolina

Melissa Mang Named ACC Co-Player Of The Week

Blue Devils Rally To Pull Out Upset Of No. 5 North Carolina

4/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. -- For the second straight match the Duke women's tennis team earned a come-from-behind victory with wins at the top four singles spots Wednesday at the Ambler Tennis Stadium, this time against Atlantic Coast Conference rival and fifth-ranked North Carolina. The Blue Devils rallied from deficits to tie the score on two occasions and finally won two straight matches on courts three and four to clinch the win at 4-3, improving to 13-5 this season and 6-1 in the ACC. North Carolina dropped just its second conference match of the season, falling to 22-4 (7-2 ACC).

UNC got the early lead by winning the doubles point. Freshmen Tara Iyer and Jessi Robinson got Duke off to a good start with an 8-2 victory over No. 46 Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith, but the Tar Heels posted two tight wins on the top courts to seal their doubles point. Seventh-ranked Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long edged Jackie Carleton and Melissa Mang, 8-6, at No. 1, and Caitlin Collins and Tanja Markovic posted the same score over Daniela Bercek and Jennifer Zika at No. 2.

The Tar Heels increased their lead to 2-0 with Markovic claiming straight sets over Zika, 6-2, 6-0, but Bercek and Carleton rallied at the top two spots to even the score. No. 6 Bercek cruised past North Carolina's 34th-ranked Long, 6-0, 6-1, and No. 29 Carleton topped No. 57 Collins, 6-2, 6-1.

On court five, Robinson played North Carolina's Laura Reichert tightly in the first set, but Reichert prevailed with a 7-6 win and pulled out a 6-3 victory in the second, putting the Tar Heels up 3-2.

The match looked like it might end up in UNC's favor after Mang and Iyer dropped their first sets at No. 3 and No. 4 -- Mang 7-5 to Anundsen and Iyer 6-4 to Smith -- but the pair of freshmen battled back, winning their second sets 6-3 and 6-4, respectively, to push their matches to a third.

No. 109 Mang, fighting Anundsen on court three, fell behind 3-4 in the third set, but gained a momentum shift when she won her fourth point to tie the score. After the score was at deuce in the next game, Mang won a dramatic point to go up 5-4. Almost at the same time, Iyer had gone up 5-2 over Smith, and each Blue Devil had a chance to win with the next point.

Mang had the advantage in her final game and sent a hard shot to Anundsen's right corner that the Tar Heel was not able to reach, leveling the overall score at 3-3. It didn't take Iyer long to finish off Smith on court four. She won her match point when Smith sent a shot outside the back line, making her individual score 6-2 and the overall score 4-3 in Duke's favor.

Duke improved to 35-28 in the all-time series with North Carolina and gained one point in this year's Carlyle Cup standings, which North Carolina holds a slim lead over, 10-9.

The Blue Devils host their final home matches this weekend with contests against Clemson Saturday at 1 p.m. and Georgia Tech Sunday at noon.

Results
Doubles
1. #7 Sara Anundsen/Jenna Long (NC) def. Jackie Carleton/Melissa Mang (NC), 8-6
2. Caitlin Collins/Tanja Markovic (NC) def. Daniela Bercek/Jennifer Zika (D), 8-6
3. Tara Iyer/Jessi Robinson (D) def. #46 Meg Fanjoy/Austin Smith (NC), 8-2
Order: 3,1,2*

Singles
1. #6 Daniela Bercek (D) def. #34 Jenna Long (NC), 6-0, 6-1
2. #29 Jackie Carleton (D) def. #57 Caitlin Collins (NC), 6-2, 6-1
3. #109 Melissa Mang (D) def. Sara Anundsen (NC), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
4. #70 Tara Iyer (D) def. Austin Smith (NC), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Laura Reichert (NC) def. Jessi Robinson (D), 7-6, 6-3
6. Tanja Markovic (NC) def. Jennifer Zika (D), 6-2, 6-0
Order: 6,1,2,5,3,4*