After falling 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a hard-fought singles match that lasted more than two hours in the finals of the ITA Carolina Regional tennis tournament Monday, freshman Hayley Carter took a 25-minute break and returned to the court to play her third match of the day.
But unlike in the singles competition, in the doubles final, not only was Carter teaming up with fellow freshman Jamie Loeb, but she was also competing against teammates Laura Slater and Kate Vialle
“(The singles match) was tough on me physically and mentally and having to adjust and then on top of that having to go play my teammates was very hard to do,” Carter said.
Carter and Loeb ultimately took the match 8-2 to claim the doubles title.
This was not the first match that involved Tar Heel teammates playing each other in the tournament. All three doubles teams representing the Tar Heels made it to the semifinals, and as a result, Slater and Vialle played Ashley Dai and Tessa Lyons Monday morning. Slater and Vialle won the match 8-6 to advance to the finals.
“When we play against each other in practice they are our teammates and we care about the person across the net which is very different from a regular match,” Lyons said. “It’s trying to convince yourself that the match will help you … You just try not to think about it.”
After Carter and Loeb defeated Clemson’s third-seeded duo Beatrice Gumulya and Jessy Rompies in the semifinals of the doubles draw, Carter faced No. 27 Beatrice Capra of Duke in the singles finals.
Carter claimed the first set, but Capra was able to come back from being down a break to take the second set. Capra captured the third set to win the match.
“I played a good singles match today,” Carter said. “It was very close, but I was unfortunately not able to pull it out.”
