Doubles point derails Tar Heels against Duke

DURHAM — Although the average fan may view the single point a team receives for winning doubles as trivial, that was the point the No. 11 North Carolina women’s tennis team desired the most after falling to No. 1 Duke 5-2 Sunday at Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham.

After using the point to its advantage en route to beating Wake Forest 5-2 Friday, UNC’s (11-3, 3-1 ACC) top-10 tandems of No. 9 Jamie Loeb and Hayley Carter and No. 5 Caroline Price and Whitney Kay looked to set the tone once again.

Both duos were locked in highly contested battles from the first serve with neither side capable of gaining an edge. Each team entered its seventh game tied at 3-3. But the similarities didn’t stop with the score.

It seemed every time Price and Kay notched a point, Loeb and Carter would join in on the fun almost immediately with one of their own on the neighboring court. Loeb said this was the result of the motivation the teams give one another.

“I think we all feed off of each other,” Loeb said. “Like when we’re winning and winning points, I think we can all sense it, and it makes us want to keep winning as well. I think it’s a team dynamic. Even if we’re down, we still pick each other up and try to motivate each other to keep winning.”

This motivation led to Price and Kay seizing a 5-3 lead behind Kay’s ranging forehand along the baseline and Price using her length to pepper volleys across the net.

But as Loeb and Carter’s heated match sustained like the warm sun beaming down on the courts, the wheels began to fall off for Price and Kay.

The Duke duo of Ester Goldfeld and Alyssa Smith fought back to tie the match at six apiece as a result of their play and miscommunications between Price and Kay that led to their rackets colliding. That momentum propelled Duke to an 8-6 win.

With the Tar Heels down 1-0 and Loeb and Carter knotted at six with their opponent, the freshmen would break Duke’s serve and seal the match in the 14th game for an 8-6 win.

Their win would push the decisive match to court No. 3, where Laura Slater and Kate Vialle were down 7-4. And after reducing the deficit to 7-5, a double fault by Slater handed the point to the Blue Devils.

Coach Brian Kalbas said losing the point in such fashion ultimately cost the team the match.

“I think the bottom line was the doubles point was big — losing the doubles point the way we did,” Kalbas said. “I think they were a little bit tougher than us at the end of the doubles. That kind of put us in a hole.”

The hole produced by the minuscule point proved to be enough to down the Tar Heels. Price said that despite its meager value, losing the point made it an even more arduous task of defeating the No. 1 team in the nation.

“It kind of takes the pressure off the singles a little bit,” Price said. “Even though it’s only one point, it’s still three singles matches versus trying to win four — it makes it a lot easier.”

“We’ve got to get that doubles point.”