She won a doubles national championship with sophomore Jessie Aney at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, and she took a mixed-doubles title at the Oracle/ITA Masters with Georgia Tech junior Chris Eubanks. Carter also made the semifinals in both singles tournaments.
But until the day before the All-American Championships started, she was in too much pain to serve. Carter said she tore something in her shoulder after the NCAA championships this summer, and she’s still recovering.
“Her getting to the semis of these two tournaments is incredible, since she hasn’t played except maybe two matches since the NCAAs last year,” Head Coach Brian Kalbas said. “I was really pleasantly surprised how well she has done in singles.”
In her junior season, she won three championships and made it to the title match of three other tournaments, including an NCAA title loss in singles over the summer.
Carter finished the season with 86 combined wins between singles and doubles play, earning 2016 ACC Player of the Year and ACC Women’s Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year. And to top everything off, she was the first UNC player to hold the No. 1 ranking in singles and doubles simultaneously.
To start her senior season, Carter competed alongside first-year Sara Daavettila in back-to-back tournaments in California. Carter said the tight schedule made competing injured more difficult, but she credits her doubles partners for helping her get back into a rhythm, and she knows her singles game will improve as the season goes on.
“I just have to put back in more work,” Carter said. “The players I lost to were the No. 2 and No. 3 players in the country. So I wouldn’t call them bad losses, but I definitely would like to beat them next time around for sure.”
Carter, a three-time ITA All-America, has improved every year she has been at UNC. If her winning ways continue, the program’s all-time wins leader might finish her career with the ultimate prize — an NCAA singles championship.
