Women’s tennis wins fourth straight ITA Indoor National Championship

For the fourth year in a row, the North Carolina women’s tennis team is the ITA National Indoor Champion. The Tar Heels (14-0) swept the Georgia Bulldogs (5-3) 4-0 to win the championship match on Monday in Seattle, Washington. 

What happened?

On day one, UNC bested Pepperdine 4-2. The Tar Heels advanced to the quarter-finals to take on the Michigan Wolverines. North Carolina bested the Wolverines in a highly-contested match with a 4-1 win on Saturday. 

For the first time all season, the North Carolina team lost the doubles point against Texas A&M on Sunday. No. 32 senior Elizabeth Scotty and first-year Reese Brantmeier fell 1-6, followed by the No. 1 duo of junior Fiona Crawley and sophomore Carson Tanguilig falling 3-6. However, the Tar Heels clinched the necessary four points in singles matches to survive the round. UNC moved to the finals with a 4-2 victory over the Aggies. 

Crawley and Tanguilig were the first doubles pair to fall in the doubles matches of the championship to give the Georgia Bulldogs an early lead, losing 4-6. However, on court three, graduate student Abbey Forbes and junior Reilly Tran tied it up with their own 6-4 victory. 

Ultimately, the doubles point came down to Scotty and Brantmeier, who faced a 6-6 tie break. The duo survived the tie break 8-6 to clinch the doubles point for the Tar Heels. 

No. 18 UNC senior Anika Yarlagadda grabbed the first singles point for the Tar Heels, winning 6-1, 6-2. Moments later, No. 9 Tanguilig bested Georgia sophomore Mell Reasco 7-5, 6-0 to put UNC up 3-0.

To finish the match, No. 12 Forbes clinched the fourth point with an ace serve to earn a 6-4, 6-1 victory. 

Who stood out? 

In singles on Sunday, Tanguilig was the hero of UNC’s championship hopes. After losing the doubles point, North Carolina needed to win as many singles matches as possible. UNC pulled ahead 3-2, but they needed one more team point to send them to the finals. Tanguilig supplied. 

The sophomore won her first set 6-0, but lost the second set 4-6 to Texas A&M graduate student Salma Ewing. Sent into a third set to break the tie, the match continued to be a back-and-forth battle. Tanguilig was forced into a set tie breaker after Ewing tied it 6-6. Fortunately for UNC, Tanguilig came out on top 7-2 to clinch the Tar Heel victory. 

On Monday for the championship match, Tanguilig brought the same level of energy to defeat her singles opponent and earned another much-needed team point for UNC. A point that put the Tar Heels one step closer to the title. 

When was it decided?

UNC won five out of six first sets in the singles matches to give the Tar Heels a significant lead. With Forbes defeating her opponent in the second set, the Tar Heels officially earned the final team point to win the match. 

Why does it matter?

The Tar Heels are the first to win the ITA National Indoor Championship title four years in a row. With Monday’s victory in the finals, this is the seventh time in program history that the North Carolina team has exited the tournament with the championship trophy. 

UNC also extends its undefeated record and enters conference play on a high note. 

When do they play next?

On Feb. 24, the Tar Heels will take on Virginia in Charlottesville at 4 p.m to kick-off conference play. 

@carolinewills03

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com