Carter keeps Tar Heels dancing in NCAA tournament

Freshman Hayley Carter wouldn't have wanted to celebrate her birthday any other way.

It was her win in the third set that sealed the 4-2 victory for the North Carolina women's tennis team over the second-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday.

"It was amazing," Carter said. "There's definitely no better 19th birthday present than being able to clinch a trip to the final four."

With the win, the Tar Heels now advance to the NCAA tournament semifinals and already have their sights set on a championship.

"Our motto is 'advance and dance,'" coach Brian Kalbas said. "Our girls have a little musicality to them, so we're excited to move on."

The Tar Heels have been dancing throughout this tournament and continued their run of great tennis, having only surrendered two points in the four tournament matches they've played.

"I really wanted it, the team really wanted it and I think it showed," freshman Jamie Loeb said.

For the second match in a row, the team won the doubles point in an intense tiebreaker.

The doubles match was tied 1-1 after Loeb and Carter lost their first doubles game all spring, and it all came down to junior Caroline Price and sophomore Whitney Kay, who would win the tiebreak 7-5 and take the doubles point.

"Doubles was key," Kalbas said. "Whitney and Caroline really came through for us."

But the Crimson Tide wouldn't go down without a fight.

Alabama took the first singles point, but the Tar Heels quickly responded with straight-set victories from Loeb and sophomore Kate Vialle to give the team a 3-1 lead.

Alabama tried to mount a comeback, winning one more singles point to make the score 3-2 before Carter's victory ended the match and Alabama's season.

"We had to change the momentum," Carter said. "Jamie and I came out firing and we were both able to pull it out."

Carter took a 5-1 lead in the final set and served for the match.

"I told my coach that I didn't need another Gatorade because I was going to end it on that game," Carter said. "I was just really confident in my play at that time and just wanted to win it for the team."

The Tar Heels celebrated the victory the only way they knew how, dancing and a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" for Hayley Carter.

"Just advance and keep dancing," Carter said.

The Tar Heels will go on to face defending champion Stanford for a chance to play in the national championship.

"We're not pleased just to get to the final four," Kalbas said. "We're happy to be there, but we're also pushing to see what we can do."

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.