The No. 2 North Carolina women’s tennis team did not disappoint on Saturday afternoon, earning a dominant 4-0 victory against a solid Mississippi State team in the second round of the NCAA Championship.
The win puts the Tar Heels (28-3, 12-2 ACC) in the round of 16 for an impressive ninth straight season. The victory came a day after UNC defeated Morgan State in the opening round and the momentum certainly carried over to Saturday.
Once again, the Tar Heels quickly won the doubles point with a 6-2 win by No. 2 Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham, and a 6-3 score by Marika Akkerman and Makenna Jones.
In the first round, the bottom three singles players beat their opponents quickly enough that it left the three top-ranked players matches unfinished. The extra rest seemed to make a difference because on Saturday, two of the top three quickly vanquished their opponents.
On Court One, No. 2 Jones handed her opponent a swift, 6-2, 6-0, loss. As did No. 26 Alle Sanford on Court Two, who won, 6-1, 6-2. Meanwhile, Graham produced a clutch, 6-3, 7-5 win against Magda Adaloglou on Court Four.
Graham went up 3-0 in the second set and fended off a late comeback bid that stretched the contest out to give her team the 4-0 victory. The three remaining matches were highly contested and could have gone either way if play had continued.
Jones stood out with a dominant performance on Court One, something that has become routine for the sophomore, who improved to 12-0 in the No. 1 singles spot. The win was the 17th straight by Jones.
There was another player who had a successful day and got high praise from head coach Brian Kalbas.
“For Alle, I think that’s the first time she’s been off the court first which is incredible..." Kalbas said. "It shows the kind of focus and competitive spirit that she’s got.”
