The No. 2 North Carolina women’s tennis team (7-0) beat No. 15 Auburn (1-1) by a score of 6-1 on Sunday afternoon on the road in Auburn, Ala.
What happened?
The Tar Heels firmly secured the doubles point, dropping just one game in their 2-0 sweep of the doubles matches. The doubles teams have been dominant all year, winning their points in all seven of UNC’s matches.
The singles matches were more of the same for UNC with all six Tar Heels winning their first set. No. 8 Carson Tanguilig began the pressure with a straightforward 6-3 win in the first and completed the victory with a 7-6 win in the second.
No. 1 Fiona Crawley found trouble separating from No. 43 Ariana Arseneault, overcoming to win a tough first set 7-5 but dropping the second 1-6. Like she has done before this season, though, Crawley dug deep in the final set and cruised to a 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 win.
Crawley was one of three matches that needed three sets to be decided. No. 48 Reilly Tran dropped the second set before similarly cruising to a 6-2 win in the third. After losing the second set 6-7, No. 5 Abbey Forbes could not persevere in a final set tiebreak, giving Auburn its sole point of the contest.
Who stood out?
Tanguilig, Reese Brantmeier, and No. 58 Elizabeth Scotty all earned straight set wins to give UNC the required four points to win. Brantmeier’s victory was especially noteworthy since it was the only match in which a Tigers player outranked its UNC opponent. Despite that, Brantmeier cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 78 DJ Bennett.
