Match point.
Junior Jessie Aney stared down her Pepperdine opponent, Dzina Milovanovic, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. With three spins of her racket, Aney anxiously awaited the serve from Milovanovic. Her return forced Milovanovic to hit the yellow ball wide left after a miscalculated back-hand return, cuing the high shrieks and a Tar Heel huddle in celebration.
With a 4-2 win over fourth seed Pepperdine (6-1), the No. 5 North Carolina women’s tennis team (10-0) won its third ITA National Team Indoor Championship, thanks to Aney’s three-set victory, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
The third-seeded Tar Heels opened the tournament with a 4-2 victory over Ole Miss on Friday morning. Doubles proved to be critical in this match, as No. 20 duo sophomore Sara Daavettila and first-year Alle Sanford swept Court Two, 6-1, while redshirt junior Marika Akkerman and sophomore Makenna Jones battled on Court Three for a 6-4 win.
When singles started, the Rebels quickly leveled the playing field by winning in straight sets on Court Six. No. 10 Jones gave UNC a boost with her 6-2, 6-1 victory, but Ole Miss answered with a win of its own. The Tar Heels had No. 52 Daavettila to thank for Friday’s win as she beat her opponent in three sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
The Tar Heels continued to power through their competition on Saturday, beating sixth-seeded Texas Tech, 4-1, in the quarterfinals. Doubles were vital once again for UNC, as all three courts had the same winning score of 6-4. No. 20 Sanford and Daavettila finished first, and the Red Raiders quickly answered with a win on Court Three. The win from No. 30 sophomore Alexa Graham and Aney edged UNC into the lead as the team headed into singles.
No. 78 Graham finished first, keeping her perfect record of 8-0 in dual matches with a 6-0, 6-1, victory. No. 6 Sanford fell to No. 13 Gabriela Talaba on Court One, but this was Texas Tech’s only win of the day. No. 52 Daavettila sealed the win with scores of 6-3, 6-4. This was the only victory for the Tar Heels during the tournament that wasn’t determined by a three-set win.
On Sunday, UNC faced its rival, seventh-seeded Duke (6-1) during the semifinals and came out victorious by a score of 4-1. Doubles proved to be tricky again; however, the Tar Heels doubles record was still in pristine condition as No. 30 Aney/Graham and No. 20 Daavettila/Sanford both won 6-4.
The Blue Devils won the first singles point as No. 106 Meible Chi defeated No. 21 Aney 6-2, 6-4. UNC answered with two straight set wins by No. 52 Daavettila and No. 78 Graham. The three final matches each went three sets. No. 10 Jones’ win of 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 sent the Tar Heels to the title match against Pepperdine.
