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The Daily Tar Heel

No. 1 UNC women's tennis dominates No. 14 Michigan, 4-1

Jessie Aney Michigan

Junior Jessie Aney takes a backhand against Michigan on Feb. 18 in the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.

The No. 1 UNC women’s tennis team continued its dominant run to start the season on Sunday, defeating the No. 14 Michigan Wolverines 4-1 at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center to improve to 11-0 on the season.

What happened?

The match started slowly for the Tar Heels in doubles. On Courts One and Two, the tandems of Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham, and Alle Sanford and Sara Daavettila, both dropped their first three games to start the match.

After the slow start, Aney and Graham came back to win six straight games for the win on Court One. Sanford and Daavettila fought their way back to a 4-3 lead, until they ran out of steam and fell 6-4.

The doubles point came down to Makenna Jones and Marika Akkerman, who won four straight games to win 6-2 to capture the advantage, after a 2-2 split to start the match.

After an early lead, six singles matches followed. North Carolina got its first singles victory on Court Five, when Aney handled Michigan’s Alex Najarian, 6-2, 6-4. Aney’s victory was followed up by a strong showing from junior Chloe Ouellet-Pizer who won 6-2, 6-3, to put the Tar Heels within a point of victory.

Sanford, UNC's top singles player, finished next and lost handily to Michigan’s Kate Fahey, after a closely contested match in the first set. After seizing a 5-4 lead, Sanford dropped two straight games and the first-set tiebreaker, then lost 6-1 in the second set.

Unable to get the win in her doubles match, Daavettila could make her mark against Chiara Lommer for the win. After a few back-and-forth games, Daavettila faced a 4-2 deficit, but came back to win 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the match for the Tar Heels. Jones and Graham did not complete their games before the win.

Who stood out?

Aney led the way for the Tar Heels, winning both her doubles and singles match. For Michigan, Fahey stepped up to upset first-year phenom Sanford, who is currently the sixth ranked player in the nation. 

When was it decided?

The match was over after Daavettila beat her opponent. Despite impressive rallies between the two players throughout the match, Daavettila sealed the victory for UNC over the the Wolverines.

Why does it matter?

This win extended the Tar Heel's streak to 11-0 on the season, giving them their sixth win against a ranked opponent so far. The win also continued a strong showing after an ITA Indoor National Championship last week.

When do they play next?

Next up, the Tar Heels play N.C. State on Wednesday, Feb. 21 in Chapel Hill. 

@tommyfradenburg

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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