Women's tennis avenges loss to Aggies to advance to NCAA quarterfinals

The Texas A&M Aggies got the best of the North Carolina women's tennis team in February, but it was the Tar Heels who got the last laugh Thursday at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex — winning 4-0 to advance to the NCAA quarterfinals.

"We knew they were talented and they were going to fight until the end, but we wanted our revenge pretty badly and I don't think we were going to be stopped," senior Tessa Lyons said.

The seventh-seeded Tar Heels continued their run of dominance in Atlanta. The team has yet to surrender a point in the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament.

UNC was led by freshmen Jamie Loeb and Hayley Carter, who set the tone by securing the tightly contested doubles point by winning the tiebreaker 9-7.

"If you want two people on a court together I can't think of anyone better than Jamie and Hayley," Lyons said. "They were very fearless and ultimately they did what they needed to do and got us a point."

Loeb and Carter are now 17-0 as doubles partners this spring.

The match was supposed to be played outdoors in Athens, Ga., but because of rain it was moved to the indoor courts at Georgia Tech. The last minute move didn't seem to bother the Tar Heels at all.

"I'm used to playing indoors," Loeb said. "It's pretty easy for me to adjust. I wasn't too worried with that."

After taking the doubles point, Lyons reminded the rest of the team what happened back in February.

"What I told the girls in the locker room was just to play like we lost the doubles point," Lyons said. "We know last time we won the doubles point and still lost."

Lyons led by example, winning her match in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. This came moments after sophomore Whitney Kay won her match in similar fashion. Their victories gave the Tar Heels a commanding 3-0 lead.

Loeb sealed the win in a rematch against tenth-ranked Cristina Stancu, who Loeb once again beat in straight sets.

"I was prepared for her to come out strong since last time was a little bit of a beat down, but I just stuck to the game plan," Loeb said. "I knew if I kept bringing her down then she would start getting frustrated."

The 4-0 victory brings the Tar Heels one step closer to their goal of winning a championship.

"It was a full team effort, everyone played really well and I'm just really proud to be advancing," coach Brian Kalbas said.

The Tar Heels now face one of their toughest challenges yet in second-ranked Alabama. The two teams have not met this season.

"Obviously they're really talented, they're the two seed, but we're just really excited to play and I know we'll come out with a lot of energy," Lyons said. "I hope we play outdoors, but we're ready for anything."

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel