The Tar Heels continued their strong play this weekend, picking up two more victories against No. 14 Miami and No. 38 Florida State to bring their streak to 10 straight wins and further helping their chances of clinching a berth in the ACC Tournament.
Freshmen Jamie Loeb, the No. 1 singles player in the nation and No. 7 Hayley Carter as well as No. 47 junior Caroline Price each picked up two wins this weekend. Not only did all three win both matches, none of them dropped a single set all weekend.
Loeb is now 42-2 in singles for the season, and her quick victory in straight sets on court one set the tone for the Tar Heels on Sunday against the Seminoles. UNC did not lose a single set the entire day, a welcome change after a much closer 5-2 victory against Miami the day before.
The No. 3 doubles team of Loeb and Carter beat the No. 23 pair of Clementina Riobueno and Monique Albuquerque for Miami, but struggled against an unranked pair for Florida State in a match that did not finish. The match was tied 4-4 when it was abandoned after UNC clinched the doubles point.
For Carter, the key to the Tar Heels’ win streak is all about timing. She and Loeb made some technical adjustments as a doubles team for the match against Duke last month, and things have been going well for both the pair and the team ever since.
“We’re fighting so hard for each other, every single match, every single court, we’re giving it 150 percent,” she said. “We’re all just starting to come together and starting to gel at a good time.”
Coach Brian Kalbas said the loss against Duke was not just a turning point for the Loeb-Carter duo, but for the whole team as well.
“After the Duke loss, we had a heart-to-heart talk about things,” he said. “The culture of our team was not where it needed to be and now we’re building toward more of a championship culture.”
