The No. 1 North Carolina women’s tennis team (15-1, 3-0 ACC) breezed through its match against Notre Dame (8-4, 2-2 ACC) on Friday, taking down the Irish, 6-1.
What happened?
Fresh off a 5-2 win at N.C. State on Wednesday, UNC collected another victory back home in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels consistently played well against Notre Dame from the very first doubles match through the last set of singles.
UNC began the day with a 6-0 shutout from No. 16 pair of senior Jessie Aney and junior Alexa Graham. But on Court Three, the team of sophomore Alle Sanford and junior Sara Daavettila fell to Notre Dame, 6-3.
All eyes were on Court Two, as the doubles point came down to fourth-ranked pair of junior Makenna Jones and first-year Cameron Morra. The added support from the home crowd fired up the Tar Heels, and in a match that saw UNC down 4-2, Jones and Morra executed a noteworthy comeback. The partners won the set 6-3, helping UNC extend its increasingly impressive doubles record to 16-0.
In a similar fashion as Wednesday’s match, No. 27 Morra was first to finish singles, cruising to an easy victory, 6-1, 6-0. Seemingly in sync with her doubles partner, second-ranked Jones also made quick work of her Notre Dame opponent, finishing her sets at 6-1, 6-1.
On Court Six, Sanford brought in another point for the Tar Heels, winning her singles match 6-1, 6-3 and handing UNC the win over the Irish.
The next to step off the court triumphantly was Aney, winning her match, 6-3, 6-1. Then No. 5 Graham conquered her opponent 6-3, 7-6 in a tiebreak. The Irish took their first point from the last singles match of the day as Daavettila fell to her opponent 6-4, 6-4, bringing the final score to 6-1 for the Tar Heels.
