UNC women's tennis fights, earns two weekend wins over ACC opponents

Alexa Graham coughed after each point. The No. 40 North Carolina women's tennis player grew tired and frustrated, the flu and emotions from the heated match slowly getting to her.

“Mine. Mine,” she shouted every so often, encouraging herself to not give up as her first set of singles went into a tiebreaker during Friday’s match against Virginia Tech.

Down 1-4, she plopped on the bench with a huff and a groan. Head coach Brian Kalbas rushed over to the exhausted first-year as she struggled to breathe. Graham’s sickness was getting the best of her.

“Just watch the ball," he said with a smile. "Watch the ball."

It worked. A few minutes later, Graham and Virginia Tech’s Elena Cerezo-Codina argued with the judge on who got the deciding point. It was ruled in her favor, boosting Graham's confidence.

The same strong attitude was carried into Sunday’s match against Virginia, when the Tar Heels won 5-2. She took both singles sets 6-1 after losing her doubles match 6-4. Graham wouldn’t let her ailments get to her. She pushed through, frequently taking a puff from her inhaler in between points.

“She wasn’t being aggressive and playing her game,” Kalbas said. “I wanted her to use her serve and her forehand to be a little bit more disciplined with her shots but also be more aggressive.”

“Once she felt like she could stay in the points and rallies with her condition and breathing, she started to play her game.”

A familiar face was missing from the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon. No. 2 senior Hayley Carter was home due to a family emergency, so No. 9 first-year Sara Daavettila took Carter’s place, despite still fighting the flu. She proved to be a crucial part of the team.

“It’s amazing,” Kalbas said. “She had to play No. 1 against some very good Virginia players. It was incredible. She’s worked hard this week on some things in her game, and it really paid off.”

Daavettila won her singles matches 6-3, 6-2 after sitting out Friday’s nerve-wrecking match. She didn’t know until the last minute if she could play on Friday, leaving her teammates worried.

“It kinda disrupted the dynamic,” Daavettila said.

This disruption continued into Sunday with Carter absent. Not only did an ill Daavettila have to play, but different doubles teams were put together to fill in the gaping hole.

“It was the first time we (sophomore Jessie Aney and Daavettila) played doubles together,” Daavettila said. “We don’t practice much together either, so it was a lot of fun playing with her. I knew it was going to be a tough doubles all around, especially with Hayley gone.”

The Tar Heels were down 1-0 after doubles. But they were able to recover, even without their key player.

“Everyone was super strong,” Daavettila said. “We stayed together as a team, supported each other. Between sickness and Hayley being gone, everyone was like ‘Alright, we’re going to even push harder.’ It really gave us something to work for.”

“I know in my match I was really focused on winning it for the team, winning it for Hayley. We pulled it together.”

As UNC’s star player supported her family and two players fought the flu, the Tar Heels had to rally together. They kept their unblemished ACC record (7-0) because of this win, extending the consecutive regular season ACC wins record to 35 games. The team is good, littered with highly ranked players, but the weekend showed a different side to the nation's No. 4 Tar Heels: their fight, their refusal to give up, their deep bond.

“It shows how deep we are and how tough we are,” Kalbas said. “When we have things that aren’t 100 percent, when we aren’t 100 percent, we have other players that can step up. It’s very exciting to see and great for the team in the future.”

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