On a day when the North Carolina women’s tennis team started out slowly, perseverance and a shift in momentum lifted the No. 1 team in the country to a 4-1 victory over Michigan.
North Carolina (11-0), coming off its ITA Indoor national championship, went down early in all three of its doubles matches. Two pairs — No. 30 Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham on Court One, and No. 20 Sara Daavettila and Alle Sanford on Court Two — went down 3-0, and looked sluggish against competitive Michigan teams.
“I knew they were going to come in against us with nothing to lose,” head coach Brian Kalbas said. “They came out really aggressive, and we were kind of flat.”
Both pairs would battle to tie the score up though, and although Daavettila and Sanford would drop their match 6-4, Aney and Graham won six straight games in a come-from-behind victory (6-3). UNC would take the doubles point after a comfortable 6-2 win on Court Three.
In singles, No. 21 Aney took the momentum from her comeback win in doubles to decisively win her first set of singles, 6-2. She had a more competitive second set, but still won 6-3 to take the match and secure North Carolina’s first singles point.
“In the huddle, we had a really good vibe,” Aney said. “I think that’s just a tribute to us coming back in doubles … The doubles point is bigger than just one point for us. It affects all the singles matches.”
Other opening singles matches were hard-fought, slow-going games. Star player and sixth-ranked Alle Sanford struggled early in her first match against Michigan's No. 29 Kate Fahey. The first set went to a tiebreaker, and Fahey edged out Sanford, 7-4.
The first-set loss seemed to leave the former No. 1 recruit frustrated. Her body slumped during the set break at times, and she looked visibly upset as she proceeded to lose her second set. Despite the first set's competitive nature, Fahey picked apart Sanford, outrunning and outgunning her to a 6-1 second-set route that gave the Wolverines their one and only point of the competition.