UNC women's tennis completes another undefeated ACC regular season

After securing a fourth consecutive ACC regular-season title on Friday, the North Carolina women's tennis team carried a 27-game conference win streak into Sunday’s match against Georgia Tech.

But the match against the No. 16 Yellow Jackets represented more than just a 28th straight conference win. It represented a chance for UNC to assert its dominance over the ACC by completing a second consecutive season without a conference loss.

And with a 4-3 win, the second-ranked Tar Heels did just that, completing their second straight 14-0 conference campaign.

“For us to be able to finish the conference regular season undefeated, it’s an amazing accomplishment for both this team and this program,” Coach Brian Kalbas said.

But the Tar Heels (26-2, 14-0 ACC) didn’t make it easy on themselves. 

UNC allowed Georgia Tech (16-7, 11-3 ACC) to get off to a hot start, surrendering the doubles point for just the second time this season.

The top-ranked doubles pair of Hayley Carter and Whitney Kay were upset for the second match in a row, falling to the 13th-ranked pair of Kendal Woodard and Paige Hourigan 6-1 on Court No. 1.

First-year Jessie Aney and sophomore Cassandra Vazquez then fell 6-4 on Court No. 2, handing the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 edge entering singles play.

Things were looking grim for North Carolina early in singles play, as first-year Chloe Ouellet-Pizer’s quick defeat on Court No. 4 pushed the Yellow Jackets' lead to 2-0.

But the Tar Heels were undaunted by the early deficit. Quick victories by sophomore Marika Akkerman, Carter and Aney gave UNC its first lead of the day.

Georgia Tech refused to go down quietly, though, as Hourigan bested Kay on Court No. 2 to even the score.

With the score tied at 3, both the match and UNC’s conference win streak rested in the hands of senior Ashley Dai, who had been restricted to doubles play for the majority of the season because of injury.

“The look on her face and her temperament and her composure, I knew that she was really in the zone. I felt really really confident in her in that situation,” Kalbas said. ”It was just amazing to see her play one point at a time and focus and just enjoy being in that atmosphere.”

Drawing on her four years of experience, Dai calmly dispatched Alexa Anton-Ohlmeyer 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the victory for North Carolina and add another accolade to her team’s already impressive resume.

Despite all this success, the Tar Heels aren’t ready to rest on their laurels quite yet.

“One thing that this group hasn’t done, and they’ve accomplished so much, is win an ACC tournament title. But they’re motivated,” Kalbas said. “They’re excited to do something this team hasn’t been able to do the in past four years and prove something.”

@The_Belshe

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