The No. 1 Tar Heels enjoyed a 4-0 win that from the outset might have appeared to be a Senior Day victory lap. But UNC’s players wanted to do more than hit cruise control and move on.
UNC’s underclassmen wanted to win for the team’s three seniors in their last home match. Coach Brian Kalbas wanted to see the type of composure befitting the nation’s top-ranked team. And everyone wanted to beat Duke.
“Against any other school, I feel like it would kind of take the pressure off, but against Duke, we know that they could win the rest of the matches,” sophomore Caroline Price said. “They’re competitive, they have a great coaching staff and the girls, we just don’t like them. They don’t like us.”
UNC (22-2, 8-1 ACC) needed to win just one doubles match to clinch the doubles point, as Duke was unable to field a third doubles team and thus forfeited one of the three matches.
Price and freshman Whitney Kay took a load off the shoulders of the other doubles pair, senior Lauren McHale freshman Ashley Dai, by putting away the doubles point 8-1 against Duke’s Marianne Jodoin and Annie Mulholland.
Heading into the singles matches, the Tar Heels were awarded another automatic point by forfeit on court No. 6.
But even with a 2-0 cushion, UNC’s players didn’t feel they could relax.
“To me, it puts a little more pressure on us,” senior Gina Suarez-Malaguti said. “We’re two up, and now there’s no way we should lose. That puts a little more pressure on the table. So I told the team before we came out here, ‘Let’s go out like we’re down 2-0 instead of up.’”
Price said the seniors’ example motivated her even further.
