The No. 2 North Carolina women’s tennis team fell just short of winning back-to-back ITA National Women's Tennis Team Indoor Championships Tuesday, losing to top-ranked Georgia, 4-3.
The Tar Heels have made it to the championship game in each of the last five years, but have only come out victorious in two of them, 2015 and 2018.
“Moments like today are tough when we fought so hard, but we have to experience a loss together. I think it’s good to move forward as a team and experience adversity,” first-year Cameron Morra said.
Until losing to the Bulldogs (7-0), UNC hadn't had many struggles against top competition. Starting on Friday, the Tar Heels (9-1) stormed through a sweep of No. 14 Oklahoma State, took down No. 8 UCLA 4-1 on Sunday, then ran through No. 4 Duke in the semifinals on Monday, 4-0.
After breezing through the first three rounds, the championship was much more of a challenge. But the Tar Heels started strong, staying undefeated in doubles competition in the tournament to take an early 1-0 lead.
Following the doubles point, Georgia came back and won two straight on Courts Five and Six to go up 2-1 and took back the advantage. The fifth and sixth Bulldogs were the only singles players to win in two sets, taking down Alle Sanford and Jessie Aney, respectively.
Then, No. 7 Alexa Graham on Court Three tied the match again at 2-2, staying unbeaten in the tournament by winning 6-0, 5-7, 6-2. Her victory proved a win wouldn't come easy for either team the rest of the way.
UNC and Georgia split the next two matches, with No. 20 Morra losing on Court Four and Sara Daavettila winning a hard-fought 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) match on Court Two.
Georgia eventually sealed the deal as both teams' top players battled it out in three sets.