Women's tennis defeats Duke, 4-2, captures third consecutive ACC Championship

For the third year in a row, the North Carolina women’s tennis team claimed the ACC Championship. 

The No. 2 Tar Heels defeated No. 3 Duke in a tough battle on Sunday morning, ultimately coming out on top, 4-2.

What happened?

UNC struggled in doubles for the entirety of the tournament, and Sunday was no different. UNC (26-3, 12-2 ACC) was unable to win the doubles point after the No. 3 duo of Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham was quickly defeated, 6-1. Doubles pair Marika Akkerman and Makenna Jones evened the score when they defeated their Duke opponents, 6-4. But the No. 22 ranked pair of Alle Sanford and Sara Daavettila were unable to hold on and lost, 7-5, giving Duke a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

Though her team was down 1-0 early in a huge match, No. 7 Jones showed no nerves. She quickly downed her opponent on Court One in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, and tied the score at 1-1.

It would be Duke that struck next, taking back the lead after an Aney loss on Court Five, 6-2, 7-6.

All eyes turned to Chloe Ouellet-Pizer on Court Six, who was moving into her third set. After winning her first set, 6-4 and losing the second, 6-1, Pizer defeated her opponent 6-2 in the third set to tie the match back up.

No. 27 Sanford gave the Tar Heels the first lead of the day in a tough two set match. She defeated her opponent, 7-6, 7-5.

After Sanford’s win on Court Two, the score was 3-2 in favor of the Tar Heels, and UNC needed one more point to secure the win. It was down to No. 41 Daavettila and Graham on Courts Three and Four.

Both of these matches went to a third set, and Graham’s eventually went to a third-set tie breaker.

Graham and Duke’s Kelly Chen were tied at 6-6 in a tiebreaker when Daavettila’s opponent double-faulted on match point, giving the Tar Heels their third ACC Championship victory in a row.

Who stood out?

Makenna Jones was named the most valuable player of the tournament. She went undefeated in both singles and doubles matches this weekend, and since taking over at the No. 1 spot for the team, she is 11-0 in singles matches.

Why does it matter?

Not only did the Tar Heels win the ACC Championship for the third year in a row, but they did so against rival and top-seeded Duke, a team that had defeated North Carolina on April 20.

UNC lost the doubles point in each match it played this weekend. While this could be considered a problem for the team as it heads to the NCAA’s, it shows the squad can battle back from being down early. The players have confidence when facing adversity.

A team with this amount of talent and determination could be dangerous in the NCAA Championship.

When do they play next?

UNC will play in the NCAA Regionals beginning on May 11.

@nicolebooth56

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