The No. 2 North Carolina women’s tennis team lost, 4-2, to No. 1 Florida in the final round of the ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Conn. This was the Tar Heels' (8-1) third straight appearance in the tournament’s deciding match.
What happened?
After a decisive 4-0 victory over tournament host-school Yale in the opening round, UNC’s first test came in the quarterfinals against No. 8 California. The Tar Heels were able to avenge their loss to the Golden Bears in the finals of last year’s ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship with a 4-2 victory to advance to the semifinals this season. After taking the doubles point to gain the early advantage, victories by sophomores Chloe Ouellet-Pizer and Jessie Aney and senior Hayley Carter sealed the win.
No. 7 Ohio State proved to be an even tougher test, as UNC squeaked out a 4-3 victory to advance to the finals. With both teams winning one of the three doubles matches, the crucial point would be decided on Court No. 3. The tandem of Ouellet-Pizer and first-year Alexa Graham would come away with the victory after winning a tightly-contested tiebreaker 7-5.
Aney would quickly double her team’s lead, dropping a combined four games in her straight-sets win. The Buckeyes evened the score with victories over Graham and fellow first-year Makenna Jones. Sara Daavettila gained the lead back with her come-from-behind defeat of junior Anna Sanford, but the Buckeyes would again draw even after Ouellet-Pizer dropped her match in three sets.
A spot in the championship match would be decided by the top-five matchup between No. 5 Carter and No. 1 Francesca Di Lorenzo. Coming in, the odds were not in Carter’s favor. She had lost all three of her previous encounters with the sophomore, including twice in tournaments earlier in the season. After splitting the first two sets, with the victor winning by a 6-4 score, Carter was able to break Di Lorenzo midway through the deciding set. She used that advantage to go on and win the set 6-4, sealing the victory for her team.
The final match was set to be an even matchup between the nation’s top two team, with the Gators having six players ranked in the top 60 and the Tar Heels coming in just behind them with five.
UNC found itself behind early after losing the doubles point for the first time this season. The team was down 2-0 pretty quickly after two-time SEC Player of the Year Brook Austin dispatched of Ouellet-Pizer, winning both sets 6-1. Daavettila again came up big for her team with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 23 Anna Danilina. After both teams picked up another win, the Gators held a 3-2 advantage, leaving the Tar Heels' fate on the rackets of Carter and Aney.