The No. 3 North Carolina women’s tennis team defeated Clemson, 6-1, at the Cone-Kenfield tennis center. This is the Tar Heels (13-1, 2-0 ACC) 30 consecutive conference win, and their third straight over the Tigers (3-6, 0-2 ACC).
What happened?
UNC started off its ACC home-opener quickly with a dominating performance on all three courts to take the doubles point. Senior Hayley Carter and sophomore Jessie Aney, the No. three doubles team in the country, were first off the court with a 6-2 win. Courts two and three finished within moments of each other, with sophomore Chloe Ouellet-Pizer and first-year Alexa Graham sealing the point with a 6-2 score.
No. 3 Carter continued the momentum into her singles match defeating sophomore Fernanda Navarro in straight sets without dropping a game. First-year Makenna Jones followed suit with a straight-sets victory of her own winning the match 6-1, 6-2. Graham clinched the victory for her team minutes later with scores of 6-2, 6-3.
Who stood out?
Carter and Aney both dominated for the Tar Heels. After cruising to a 6-2 victory to start the doubles play, they both claimed singles victories as well. Carter’s 6-0, 6-0 victory on court one put the Tigers in an early 2-0 hole they couldn't recover from. Aney’s victory came after the match was already decided, but after dropping her second set, she snagged a 10-8 victory in the tiebreaker to decide the third set.
“Individually, I don’t think it could have went any better for me,” said Carter. “I played lights out, and hopefully I’ll be able to carry this momentum into the next one.”
When was it decided?
UNC gained control of the match from the beginning with their dominant performance in doubles, and despite the one match the Tigers won, the end result of the match was never in question. After the Tar Heels earned their fourth point to give them the victory, the remaining three singles matches were allowed to finish.
