In her first match since pulling her hip flexor, freshman for the North Carolina women’s tennis team Hayley Carter was in a deep hole.
Down five games to none in the first set against Boston College on Friday, coach Brian Kalbas pulled Carter aside.
“I said, ‘Look, you said you could play, so you need to mentally be out here. You may not be one-hundred percent, but you’ve got to mentally be one-hundred percent,’” Kalbas said. “Then she started playing the way she normally plays.”
Following the conversation with her coach, Carter went on a tear, winning the next seven games to earn a victory in the first set and won 13 of the final 14 games.
“I was struggling a little bit physically and mentally, I would say,” Carter said. “Coach got me a little fired up, and I was able to turn it around pretty quickly.”
Carter’s victory was a part of a 6-1 win for UNC against Boston College to open ACC play on Friday. The Tar Heels followed up that performance with a 7-0 victory against N.C. State on Sunday, where Carter again won in straight sets .
Kalbas said the victory against N.C. State was closer than the score implied, and he was proud to not surrender a single point. Last year, when UNC was the top-ranked team in the nation, the Tar Heels squeaked out a 4-3 victory against the Wolfpack.
“They have such great energy, they fight really hard, and they’re very disciplined,” Kalbas said of N.C. State. “They put a lot of pressure on you … they’re pretty even all the way through their lineup.”
Junior Caroline Price, ranked No. 67, won both of her singles matches, as well as a doubles match against Boston College with teammate Whitney Kay, who is ranked No. 69. Kay, who struggled in a loss in her singles matchup on Friday, recovered with a three-set victory on Sunday.
