UNC women's tennis season comes to an end with losses in singles, doubles tournaments

Top-ranked North Carolina women’s tennis player Hayley Carter came up one step short of an NCAA singles title on Monday, losing in straight sets to Danielle Collins of Virginia in the championship game. 

Carter's loss came one day after she and her doubles partner, Whitney Kay, bowed out in the doubles tournament semifinals at the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla. Kay also lost in the opening round of the singles tournament, and first-year Jessie Aney advanced to the second round before falling to Collins.

What happened?

The singles tournament started out well for the Tar Heels on Wednesday, with Aney getting an upset victory over No. 32 Astra Sharama of Vanderbilt. Things did not go as well for Kay in the final singles match of her college career. She struggled against No. 28 Kennedy Shaffer of Georgia, losing in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

“I think the biggest struggle for me was realizing it could be my last match,” she said. “Lots of emotions in play.”

She rebounded well the following day when she and Carter took the court for their opening-round match in the doubles tournament. The duo picked up a straight-set win over Nour Abbes and Miki Kobayashi of Washington. Aney faced the eventual champion Collins on the second day, and lost 6-3, 6-2.

On Friday, Carter performed well in her singles match against No. 12 Julia Elbaba of Virginia, who had defeated her earlier this season, winning both sets with a 6-2 score. The doubles match, Carter’s fourth match in two days, was more of a struggle as the duo were forced to a 10-point tiebreaker to determine a winner.

The following morning, she dropped her first set of the singles tournament, losing the opening set to Katarina Adamovic of Oklahoma State. She responded well, however, winning the last two sets 6-1, 6-0. That momentum carried over into Carter and Kay’s doubles match, where they defeated their South Carolina opponents in straight sets, only dropping a total of three games.

In her semifinal matchup Carter faced Sinead Lohan of Miami, who had not dropped a set to that point in the tournament. It looked as if that trend would continue when Lohan took the first set, 6-1. Carter would then come back from a one-set deficit for the second day in a row to pick up the win. 

That afternoon would be the final match of Kay’s career as she and Carter would lose in a tiebreaker to Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr of California.

Who stood out?

Despite her loss in the final, Carter had an outstanding performance for the Tar Heels in Tulsa. She competed in 10 matches in the singles and doubles tournaments, including eight matches in four days.

Even though she only picked up one victory, Aney performed well in her opening round match against a high-caliber opponent, and looked as though she was ready to make a deeper run, had she not run into Collins.

When was it decided?

Monday’s championship match was the fourth time that Carter had faced long-time rival Collins this season. The familiarity between the two was obvious on the court. Collins seemingly telegraphed where many of Carter’s shots were going to land, and Carter also seemed to know where her opponent’s shots were going, but on many occasions, just did not have the energy to make it to them in time.

After dropping the opening set, 6-3, Carter took the opening game of the second set, but would then lose the next four. After winning a second game and having a lead in the final game, she could not complete one final comeback.

Why does it matter?

This loss ends another good season for the women’s tennis program. They captured singles and doubles crowns in January at the Freeman Memorial Tennis Championships. They made it through conference play without a single loss, clinching the regular season title. They would then go on to win the ACC Tournament as well.

Even though the Tar Heels are losing two of their starters in Kay and Kate Vialle, they would appear to be in good shape coming into next season. Carter will be returning for her senior year, and Coach Brian Kalbas seems to have found his next star player in Aney. 

First-year Chloe Oullet-Pizer also seems ready to step into a larger role after winning 31 matches in her first season.

@CPhillips2020

sports@dailytarheel.com