The North Carolina and Duke women’s tennis teams played host to 17 teams at the Kitty Harrison Invitational in Chapel Hill and Durham over the weekend.
On Friday, the Tar Heels started with a loss, as senior Whitney Kay and first-year Chloe Ouellet-Pizer fell in doubles to Ekaterina Tour and Arnelle Sullivan of Maryland. UNC finished the day with a loss, too, as Emily Smith of Rice was victorious over sophomore Cassandra Vazquez in two sets.
But sandwiched between these two losses were six Tar Heel victories, three in doubles and three in singles. The duos of Vazquez and sophomore Marika Akkerman, Kay and Vazquez, and Akkerman and Ouellet-Pizer all picked up doubles victories. Kay, Akkerman and Ouellet-Pizer all picked up victories in singles as well.
The Tar Heels split their doubles matches on Saturday, with Kay and Vazquez defeating Virginia’s Victoria Olivarez and Stephanie Nauta. The Virginia combo of Skylar Morton and Erica Susi defeated Akkerman and Ouellet-Pizer. The Tar Heels also split their singles matches against Michigan, with Kay and Vazquez each picking up victories.
The Tar Heels won all four of their matches on Sunday to close out the tournament, with Kay, Akkerman, Ouellet-Pizer and Vazquez all picking up two-set victories over East Carolina opponents.
This was the 12th-annual Kitty Harrison Invitational. Harrison coached the North Carolina women's tennis team from 1976 to 1998, and is a member of the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame.
Quotable
“Getting in these extra matches is always going to be helpful, because naturally in the fall you don’t get a lot of exposure on the court in pressure situations. I definitely want to use this to keep the ball rolling in the spring.” — Vazquez on the conclusion of her fall season. Vazquez said she will not travel to New York for the ITA National Indoor Individual Championship, and will next play when the Tar Heels begin their spring season.
