On a cold and dreary Wednesday afternoon in Raleigh, the newly first-ranked North Carolina women’s tennis team shined brightly, taking down No. 11 N.C. State, 5-2.
What happened?
Hot off of four straight victories, UNC (14-1, 2-0) traveled to the home of the Wolfpack (10-3, 2-1) where the team looked to defend its new No. 1 ranking. The Tar Heels did not disappoint, showing once again they are a force to be reckoned with.
UNC clinched the doubles point, with the No. 16 pair of junior Alexa Graham and senior Jessie Aney finishing first, defeating their opponents 6-3. The fourth-ranked pair of first-year Cameron Morra and junior Makenna Jones quickly followed suit, winning 6-4. The combined efforts of these duos gave the Tar Heels an early 1-0 lead going into singles play, and brought UNC’s doubles record to an impeccable 15-0 on the season.
Morra, ranked 27th nationally, was first to finish her singles match, winning back-to-back sets 6-0, 6-4. Fifth-ranked Graham stepped off the court next, coming out on top after a grueling second set. She took down her opponent 6-2, 7-6.
The next Tar Heel to finish her singles match was junior Sara Daavettila. After losing her first set of the day 2-6, No. 6 Daavettila fought back and outlasted her opponent, winning the next two sets 6-2, 6-2.
Jones, second-ranked nationally, made the second comeback of the day. Following her 7-6 loss in the first set to No. 25 Anna Rogers, she snatched the match from her opponent in the second two sets, 6-3, 6-4, piling on another win for North Carolina. These four singles triumphs gave UNC a commanding 5-0 lead over N.C. State.
The Wolfpack put themselves on the board in the last two singles matches of the day, defeating Aney and senior Chloe Ouellet-Pizer, bringing the final score to 5-2 in favor of North Carolina.
Who stood out?