The North Carolina women’s tennis team proved it is a giant force in the ACC this weekend. Then, it quickly proved that the giant could be toppled.
The Tar Heels clinched the top spot in the ACC on Thursday with a 6-1 victory against Georgia Tech, but then broke their 12-game winning streak, dropping a match to Clemson on Saturday, 3-4.
Coach Brian Kalbas said both matches were played against good teams.
“The Georgia Tech match we played well. Georgia Tech is very dangerous. They have a good team,” Kalbas said. “We were very fortunate to win the doubles point. Overall, in the Georgia Tech match I thought we played a complete match. Clemson deserves most of the credit for really just playing tough, inspired tennis and kind of just took it to us. Obviously, we are disappointed, but we can learn a lot from both matches.”
Jamie Loeb continued her dominant freshman season, finishing the weekend at 45-2 overall in singles play and 14-0 in the ACC. She also added two 8-3 doubles wins, partnering with sophomore Ashley Dai at the No. 2 position against the Yellow Jackets and winning with fellow freshman Hayley Carter against the Tigers.
Carter said she thought that both matches were played well but that the Tar Heels need to continue to be aggressive.
“Thursday we just played a great match overall, doubles, singles, every single court played amazing,” she said. “Clemson, I think the same thing happened, we were just a little more unlucky. We worked hard, and we gave everything we had. (The Tigers) are definitely a tough team. They beat Duke and us back-to-back, so they have shown they are a great team.
“Just go out and take it instead of wanting it to come easy, wanting our opponents to give it to us. We have to go out and play our game and impose our will on the other team.”
In Atlanta, the Tar Heels dominated both singles and doubles. After Loeb and Dai clinched the doubles point, Carter, Loeb and Dai, along with junior Caroline Price and sophomore Kate Vialle, all went on to win singles matches.
