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The Daily Tar Heel

UNC women's tennis dominates doubleheader with 7-0 victories

The North Carolina women’s tennis team continued its in-state dominance Wednesday with back-to-back 7-0 victories over UNC-Greensboro and North Carolina Central at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

The No. 5 Tar Heels (6-0) started with an impressive display in doubles play, claiming two matches and leading in a third. The strong performance continued into singles, as UNC claimed every set on the first five courts.

Only sophomore Maggie Kane, who dropped her first set on Court 6, faltered. But the Raleigh native would prove her merit, as the sophomore claimed a 1-0 (10-5) tiebreaking third set to complete the 7-0 rout of the Spartans (0-1).

After an extended break, Coach Brian Kalbas shifted UNC's lineup against North Carolina Central (0-1) to test new doubles combinations.

But despite the change, the success continued.

The new doubles teams swept the opposition, earning an early advantage for UNC. But the Tar Heels' singles competitors put on an more impressive showing, dropping just seven games and sweeping nine sets in their six match victories.

North Carolina has a history of success, especially during the indoor season — with a championship in two of the past three seasons. And with a berth in February's Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Indoor Championship awaiting, the Tar Heels are coming into form at precisely the right moment.

Quotable

“(Wednesday) I think was good, because we were able to prepare for our next portion of matches. Texas A&M is going to be a huge match, a top-10 matchup, and then (ITA National) Indoors.” — Kalbas on the upcoming schedule.

Notable

According to Kalbas, every NCAA women’s tennis team is only allotted a certain total number of days to play all of its matches. This means UNC only has five days compete in non-conference matches. This is what makes Wednesday’s doubleheader necessary, in order to maximize the number of potential matches.

Three numbers that matter

1: The total number of sets the Tar Heels dropped through two matches on Wednesday.

5: The number of different combinations in UNC's six doubles matches.

0: The number of games lost in the first set in North Carolina's six singles matches against the Eagles.

What’s next?

The Tar Heels will host No. 9 Texas A&M at 12 p.m. on Sunday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

@MichaelFreije

sports@dailytarheel.com

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