Baylor Sweeps Past SMU 4-0; North Carolina Blanks Vanderbilt

©Colette Lewis 2011--
Stanford, CA--

The third series of women's round of 16 matches, scheduled for 3 p.m., didn't start until nearly three hours later, but Baylor and North Carolina did their part to get the day back on scheduled. Baylor, the fifth seed, cruised by unseeded SMU 4-0, while fourth seed North Carolina used a comeback in doubles to launch their 4-0 victory over unseeded Vanderbilt.

Baylor looked strong and focused on the Taube Family South courts, taking the doubles point and making an early statement on the lower courts in singles. At No. 4, Jelena Stanivuk beat Heather Steinbauer at 6-2, 6-0 to make it 2-0 Baylor, and moments later Taylor Ormond beat Ashley Turpin by the same score at No. 6. With SMU winning only one first set, having dropped tiebreakers in the opening sets at No. 1 and No. 2, Mustang optimism was in short supply. Diana Nakic ended it quickly for Baylor, beating Aleksandra Malyarchikova 6-2, 6-2.

After the nearly five-hour men's match on Thursday, Baylor fans were relieved to see the women win in a more reasonable time frame.



North Carolina was happy to get away with the doubles point, because the Tar Heels' Zoe De Bruycker and Gina Suarez-Malaguti trailed Vanderbilt's Lauren Mira and Keilly Ulery 2-7 at No. 3 doubles, before coming all the way back to post a 9-8(5) win.

"We got off to a little bit of a slow start in doubles," said North Carolina head coach Brian Kalbas. "After getting down 7-2, for them to come back gave us a little momentum and some confidence going into singles. We won a lot of first sets, and all that adds up to looking like it was an easy match, but it wasn't."

The Tar Heels second point came from Suarez-Malaguti, who beat Ulery 6-2, 6-1 at No. 5 singles. Point number three was courtesy of Tessa Lyons at No. 6, who beat Rachael Dillon 6-3, 6-2. The clinching point wasn't entirely obvious, but Shinann Featherston took control of her match with Chelsea Preeg at No. 3, and closed out the victory by a 7-6(3), 6-2 score.

The Bears and Tar Heels have not met this year, but Kalbas, who took his team to the semifinals at last year's NCAAs, is looking forward to their quarterfinal match on Sunday.

"They've got some new players at 1 and 3, but they're strong all the way through their lineup," Kalbas said. "I know we're going to be in for a tough, tough match. We're excited to be playing against them."

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#5 BAYLOR (28-3) 4
SMU (23-6) 0

Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 3)
1) No. 70 Secerbegovic/Filipiak (BAY) d. No. 57 Lesniak/Malyarchikova (SMU) 8-4
2) Ormond/Stanivuk (BAY) vs. Cieplucha/Steinbauer (SMU) aban.
3) Nakic/Novakova (BAY) d. Hatamova/Turpin (SMU) 8-2

Singles (Order of Finish: 4, 6, 3)
1) No. 14 Sona Novakova (BAY) vs. No. 9 Marta Lesniak (SMU) aban.
2) No. 49 Nina Secerbegovic (BAY) vs. Edyta Cieplucha (SMU) aban.
3) No. 47 Diana Nakic (BAY) d. No. 124 Aleksandra Malyarchikova (SMU) 6-2, 6-2
4) No. 112 Jelena Stanivuk (BAY) d. Heather Steinbauer (SMU) 6-2, 6-0
5) Karolina Filipiak (BAY) vs. Shahzoda Hatamova (SMU) aban.
6) Taylor Ormond (BAY) d. Ashley Turpin (SMU) 6-2, 6-0

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#4 NORTH CAROLINA (26-5) 4
VANDERBILT (17-9) 0

Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3)
1) No. 7 Featherston/McHale (UNC) d. No. 36 Dillon/Leatu (VANDY) 8-4
2) Preeg/Wu (VANDY) d. Durisic/Lyons (UNC) 8-4
3) De Bruycker/Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) d. Mira/Ulery (VANDY) 9-8 (5)

Singles (Order of Finish: 5, 6, 3)
1) No. 13 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC) vs. No. 66 Alex Leatu (VANDY) aban.
2) No. 108 Jelana Durisic (UNC) vs. Jackie Wu (VANDY) aban.
3) No. 74 Shinann Featherston (UNC) d. No. 88 Chelsea Preeg (VANDY) 7-6 (3), 6-2
4) Lauren McHale (UNC) vs. Lauren Mira (VANDY) aban.
5) Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC) d. Keilly Ulery (VANDY) 6-2, 6-1
6) Tessa Lyons (UNC) d. Rachael Dillon (VANDY) 6-3, 6-2