UNC men's, women's tennis teams conclude seasons

Just hours after losing the national championship to UCLA, junior Caroline Price and her teammates had to get right back at it.

“We were all in the lobby the morning before, just looking at each other, feeling kind of dead,” she said.

Despite their tired muscles and disappointment, the members of the North Carolina women’s tennis team had a solid showing in the NCAA singles and doubles individual championships last week, even though it was not quite how the players wanted their seasons to end.

Four members of the women’s team and three from the men’s team competed in the championships to finish successful — but grueling — seasons. No one from either team made it past the quarterfinals.

Price lost in the first round of singles, but she, along with her doubles partner, sophomore Whitney Kay, earned All-American status for their appearances in the doubles quarterfinals.

“I did give everything I had,” Price said. “I just don’t think I was mentally and emotionally as well as I should’ve been because I was still upset after losing finals.”

Freshmen Hayley Carter and Jamie Loeb also earned All-American honors for their doubles’ performance, as well as for their singles’ play. Both lost in the quarterfinals.

“It was exciting to do so well after kind of a hard end to the team tournament,” Carter said. “But I would have loved to have done better.”

Despite the lingering pain from the loss, as well as Loeb’s disappointing exit in the quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed, Price and Carter said they are proud of their team’s performance.

UNC was the only team to have multiple players competing in the singles quarterfinals, and, along with Duke, the only team to have two tandems in the final eight of doubles.

Unlike the women’s team, the individuals from the men’s team did not have to play fresh off a loss. But freshmen Brayden Schnur and Ronnie Schneider dropped tough first round matches, and Schnur and sophomore Brett Clark also lost in the first round for doubles.

“I was definitely disappointed to go out both rounds,” Schnur said. “I wasn’t myself. I played a little hesitant and nervous. I think I made the opportunity too big in my head.”

Schneider was also disappointed in himself but said he didn’t feel the team’s loss in the quarterfinals affected his performance.

“I lost the two sets against the Oklahoma player pretty badly,” Scheider said. “But the couple of days in between kind of wipes your head clean.”

Even though neither team was completely satisfied with how it performed in the individual tournament, members from both recognize they had successful but long seasons, and it started to take its toll.

“The losses weren’t because I was physically tired,” Schnur said. “I think I was more mentally tired because it’s been a really long season. I missed home.”

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