The North Carolina women’s tennis team will put its nine-game winning streak on the line this weekend as the Tar Heels take on Virginia and Virginia Tech in two crucial ACC matches.
The No. 3 Tar Heels, who have been on the road the last four matches, return home to the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center to play No. 17 Virginia on Saturday and Virginia Tech on Sunday. After a long road trip, UNC is excited to play in front of its home crowd.
“Getting back at home and playing in front of our home fans is going to be really exciting,” UNC coach Brian Kalbas said. “Virginia and Virginia Tech are very tough opponents.
“Hopefully we can take advantage of being at home and it will give us that extra comfort level you need when playing very difficult teams.”
UNC (16-3, 5-0 ACC) will certainly be in for a tough test against Virginia (14-4, 3-2). Last season, the Tar Heels fell behind 3-1 to the Cavaliers before battling back and winning 4-3. North Carolina outlasted Virginia again in 2009, 4-3.
With a history of close victories against UVa., UNC knows it will have a target on its back Saturday.
“We know that UVa. is hungry to beat us and that gives us a lot of motivation to take them down,” junior Shinann Featherston said. “We are not threatened by their players. We know their game styles and I think we can out-compete them. We are a bunch of fighters, so we will do anything to win.”
After beating Virginia Tech 7-0 last year, UNC will look to duplicate that result Sunday. While the Hokies (9-9, 1-4) don’t pose as much of a threat on paper as Virginia does, the Tar Heels are not overlooking their other weekend opponent.
“Virginia Tech is very much improved,” Kalbas said. “Their doubles play has been outstanding. We need to come ready to play and play hard against them because they are a very talented team.”
