Top-ranked women's tennis stays undefeated with victory over Georgia Tech

Jamie Loeb hasn’t had to deal with defeat often.

But she moved on from her loss to No. 21 Ronit Yurovsky in mid-February as if it never happened.

After the eighth-ranked sophomore on the North Carolina women's tennis team lost to Yurovsky of Michigan 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 Feb. 22, she came out firing on all cylinders in her next match against Georgia Tech Friday. Loeb got off to a quick start and never looked back in her 6-2, 6-1 triumph over No. 57 Paige Hourigan.

The loss to Yurovsky had no lingering effects on Loeb as she was looking forward to getting back on track.

“I think I probably played my best tennis in a while,” said Loeb after UNC beat Georgia Tech 5-2. “I came out with a positive mindset which was important since I lost at Michigan and haven’t been playing my best so I needed to believe in myself and that’s what I did.”

Coach Brian Kalbas was proud of Loeb for her ability to bounce back, especially against a talented player.

“Obviously, it’s interesting to see when you take a loss how you respond and she had a really good week in practice,” Kalbas said. “She beat a very talented freshman and made (Hourigan) not look very good out there and she really dominated the match.”

Learning from her previous mistakes, Loeb kept her foot on the gas pedal and had Hourigan running around on the defensive for the entire match even with a sizeable lead.

“I stayed aggressive the whole match," she said. "Really didn’t let her get back into the match since my previous matches I would be up and the girl would come back and I’d end up losing but today I didn’t let that happen.”

For the team, Loeb’s victory was crucial as she was able to get the top-ranked Tar Heels (13-0, 3-0 ACC) an early point in their 5-2 win against the No. 27 Yellow Jackets (3-4, 0-1 ACC). And despite a quick turn around, Loeb picked up right where she left off less than 48 hours later, as she helped UNC dispatch Virginia Tech 7-0 Sunday (6-4, 0-3 ACC). 

Once again, Loeb won the first singles point for the Tar Heels, this time over junior Ilinca Stoica in a 6-0, 6-1 rout. Winning that first singles point, Kalbas, said, gives UNC momentum moving forward. 

“When you get the doubles point and can get an easy match like that and be up 2-0, it really puts a lot of pressure on your opponents,” said Kalbas. “It’s huge for us getting that first point in singles."

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