The No.1 North Carolina women’s team (30-1) defeated No. 33 Old Dominion (19-5) in a sweeping 4-0 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at the Chewning Tennis Center.
What happened?
In the doubles matches, the Tar Heels got on the board early with a 6-2 win delivered by doubles duo first-year Reese Brantmeier and junior Reilly Tran. After a series of long rallies, overhead hits and nicely placed shots, senior Elizabeth Scotty and sophomore Carson Tanguilig also pulled away with a 6-2 win. Securing the doubles point, North Carolina headed into singles play up 1-0.
In singles play, the Tar Heels faced tightly contested matches. While No. 1 junior Fiona Crawley, No. 35 graduate student Abbey Forbes and No. 38 senior Anika Yarlagadda each won their first set, No. 8 Brantmeier and No. 28 Tanguilig fell to their opponents in the first set 7-5 and 7-6, respectively.
As each of the Tar Heels moved on to their second set, Crawley easily toppled Old Dominion’s Sofia Johnson. Tran found similar success after winning her first set 6-4. To earn the second singles point, Tran easily swept Old Dominion’s Alexandra Viktorovich in a 6-1 victory. Yarlagadda put the nail in the coffin in her second set after earning a 6-2 win. The Tar Heels ended the match winning 4-0.
Who stood out?
In doubles play, Scotty and Tanguilig played fiercely in order to hold their opponents to a mere two games. Although the pair faced intense rallies, they returned smart shots and well-hit balls. Old Dominion was unable to gain any momentum.
Crawley and Yarlagadda also proved to be a critical part of the win over Old Dominion. By holding their opponents to three or fewer games in both of their respective sets, the two players were able to easily gain two of the three needed singles points.
