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.
