ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. _ North Carolina's Sanaz Marand defeated the nation's top-ranked singles player, Ani Mijacika, but the fifth-seeded Tar Heels still fell to fourth-seeded Clemson, 4-2, Friday in the ACC women's tennis tournament.

Katrina Tsang of Raleigh was also a winner in singles for the Tar Heels, who will now await an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Just as in the regular season - a 4-3 UNC win in Chapel Hill - the doubles point proved to be the difference. Mijacika and Carol Salge opened play with an 8-2 win over No. 8 Marand and Sophie Grabinski at the top position. The Tigers then secured the point with an 8-5 win at No. 3, as Ina Hadziselimovic and Estefania Balda outlasted Carolina's Alexandra Jurewitz and Laura Reichert.

Marand's 6-4, 6-1 win over Mijacika was the first singles match to finish and briefly pulled the Tar Heels even at 1-1. The victory, which avenged her only loss of the spring, was Marand's 23rd of 2008.

After Laurianne Henry's win over Meg Fanjoy at No. 6, UNC again evened the score thanks to Tsang. She defeated No. 108 Balda, 7-6 (3), 6-1, to make the overall score 2-2.

But the Tar Heels (17-8) would get no closer, as Federica van Adrichem and Hadziselimovic finished off straight-set wins over Reichert and Grabinski, respectively, to end the match.