No. 1 UNC women's tennis remains undefeated with 7-0 win over Syracuse

The No. 1 North Carolina women’s tennis team (16-0) continued its undefeated season Friday afternoon with a 7-0 win over Syracuse.

What happened?

Following the five-day break after its match on Sunday against No. 11 Virginia, No. 1 North Carolina was back at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club to face unranked Syracuse. 

The afternoon kicked off with UNC having a steady start to the doubles matches. Courts two and three started with  early breaks, but court one had more of a challenge in getting the early lead.

Court three doubles was the first match to finish with a 6-1 score. Court two with No. 15 junior Elizabeth Scotty and senior Alle Sanford followed shortly after with a 6-3 win, winning the doubles point for the Tar Heels in under 30 minutes.

In the singles, all six courts started with early leads. 

Syracuse, however, put up a fight after the first half-hour of singles play. The Orange broke back on courts one, two, and five, narrowing the distance with the Tar Heels. Despite the setback, North Carolina closed out the first sets of all six matches comfortably.

First to finish was junior Anika Yarlagadda on court six with a 6-0, 6-2 win. Courts three and four finished shortly after to give the Tar Heels a 4-0 lead. Courts one and two were last to finish, with court two being decided in a third set tiebreaker. 

Who stood out? 

On court two in the doubles, Scotty demonstrated her strong volleying abilities by closing into the center net and finishing points with crisp volleys. In the singles, powerful baseline hitting allowed her to dictate play from the start. 

Scotty’s singles match became more complicated late in the first set, and she took a medical timeout when she was down 4-1 in the second. Even though she was struggling in the second set, she continued to put up a fight and showed her grit on  the tennis court. Her win in the third set tiebreaker was an immense way to close out the evening.

Yarlagadda, who only played in the singles, had an impressive win on court six. Her aggressive backhand from the baseline was crucial for her dominating triumph. 

When was it decided?

The undefeated Tar Heels were up in the scoreboard since the start of the  doubles play and they continued to dominate in the singles. The early leads in all six singles courts made it an uphill battle for the Orange to come back. 

Even though Syracuse fought back midway through the singles matches, North Carolina was able to keep its composure and close the match out with ease. 

Why does it matter?

For the fifth consecutive week, UNC has come in as the nation’s top-ranked team in the Division I Women’s ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. This win will maintain North Carolina at the No. 1 seed with four weeks remaining in the regular season. 

The Tar Heels will gain much-needed positive energy with the victory, something that will be crucial for next week’s schedule. The team will be traveling to Florida next week to face No. 10 Miami (9-2) and Florida State (6-5). 

Not only will UNC face two highly ranked ACC teams with winning records,  but they will play in a hot and humid Florida climate. Weather in Florida is expected to be in the 80s next week and averaging 70 percent in humidity levels. 

Today’s triumph over Syracuse also marks career victory number 699 for Brian Kalbas, the Tar Heels’ head coach.  With a win on Sunday, he will become the fifth Division I women’s tennis  coach to reach 700 victories. 

When do they play next?

The team will be back in the Chapel Hill Tennis Club on Sunday, March 20 at 1 p.m. to face unranked Boston College.  

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