Coach Brian Kalbas didn’t know what to expect out of his team at the women’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisconsin.
But even after losing several key players from its ITA championship team in 2015, the No. 5 North Carolina women’s tennis team (10-1) yet again made its way to the finals with victories over Alabama, LSU and Georgia.
Despite a valiant comeback, the Tar Heels were unable to defend their ITA title after they lost a tight 4-3 match to No. 6 California (6-0) on Monday.
“It’s an incredible accomplishment to reach the finals with so many new players,” Kalbas said. “We beat a great Georgia team and played a remarkably close match against a very good Cal team, and it’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to come out on top. But you have to give Cal a lot credit.”
After UNC first-year Jessie Aney defeated junior Denise Starr 7-6 (1), 6-4 to tie the match at 3, the focus turned to the third set of sophomore Marika Akkerman’s match against Olivia Hauger as the deciding match.
Serving with a 5-4 lead in the third set, Akkerman had a chance to close out the match and give the Tar Heels the win, but Akkerman was unable to hold serve and ended up losing the third set 7-5.
“It was just a high pressure situation,” Akkerman said. “My opponent played a great match and took it at the end with some of the shots that she hit.”
Going into the tournament, Kalbas had no idea how his team would fare against the nation’s elite teams after having to replace two singles players (Jamie Loeb and Caroline Price) from the 2015 team.
Despite the loss, the Tar Heels can still take plenty of positives from the tournament, including the emergence of junior Hayley Carter at the first singles position. Carter, the sixth-ranked player in the country, did not lose a match during the tournament and defeated California’s No. 5 Maegan Manasse 6-2, 6-2.
