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The Daily Tar Heel

No. 2 UNC women's tennis extends perfect record in ACC play with win over FSU

Alexa Graham women's tennis miami
Junior Alexa Graham cheers after earning a point at the UNC women's tennis match against Miami on Sunday, March 24, 2019 at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. UNC won 4-3. Graham earned the winning point for UNC.

On a rainy Friday afternoon in Chapel Hill, the No. 2 ranked North Carolina women’s tennis team took to the indoor courts at the Cone-Kenfield Center in its matchup against No. 13 ranked Florida State. The Tar Heels continued their unrivaled domination of the ACC, taking down the Seminoles 4-0 to improve to 23-1 on the season and 11-0 in conference play. 

What happened?

UNC started the day off with its formidable doubles pairings, which featured some of the top duos in the nation. Alexa Graham and Jessie Aney joined forces as the No. 8 ranked doubles pairing, but lost 6-2 to the No. 46 ranked Seminole pairing of Emmanuelle Salas and Ana Oparenovic. Despite this surprising setback, UNC powered back with a win from Makenna Jones and Alle Sanford which tied the score at 1-1 and set up a critical third match to decide the doubles point. It was at this crucial moment in which Sara Daavettila and Cameron Morra took their Seminole opponents down to the wire and secured the 6-4 victory and the first point of the day.

Head Coach Brian Kalbas saw the doubles play as a sign of his team’s versatility, despite his most dominate pairing losing their first match of the season.

“They’ve been carrying us all year,” Kalbas said in reference to Graham and Aney. “It was nice for the other two teams to step up and reestablish themselves and win the doubles point.” 

After surviving an initial doubles test from Florida State, the Tar Heels continued to face pressure across the board from their ranked ACC opponent. However, the experience of this UNC squad showed whenever the Seminoles appeared within striking distance. A tactical 6-4, 6-2 victory from No. 6 ranked Graham and a decisive 6-2, 6-3 win courtesy of No. 29 ranked Morra gave UNC a 3-0 lead. The two points gifted to UNC from its ranked players gave the team all the breathing room it needed to secure its 14th straight victory.

Who stood out? 

Graham, a junior, continued to wreak havoc on her conference foes, extending her perfect record in ACC singles play with her win on Friday. When asked about her impressive run, Graham explained that streaks such as these do not mean much to her outside of the scope of team success. 

“I don’t really think about it,” Graham said. “My goal out there is to help my team, it’s not about me or about how much I’m winning.”

Despite her team-oriented approach, the junior standout has proven herself as a marquee player for Coach Kalbas and will be a major factor in this team’s postseason run. 

When was it decided? 

After UNC took a three-point lead, it was unclear whether it would finish with a shutout score of 4-0. No. 7 ranked Jones was facing resistance on Court One, and it seemed as if the Seminoles might be able to surge back to grab some points from the Tar Heels. 

It was at this juncture that Sanford came in clutch for UNC on Court Six. In what Coach Kalbas called a “vintage match” from the sophomore, she ground out a 7-6 (6), 6-1 victory against Julia Mikulski to lock up a victory for the Tar Heels. 

Why does it matter?

A conference win against a ranked Florida State team only reinforces the notion that this UNC team is one of the nation’s premier squads. The Tar Heels remain undefeated in the ACC and have set themselves up for what could be an exciting postseason run for Chapel Hill tennis fans.

When do they play next? 

The Tar Heels will have little time to rest after Friday’s victory, as they return to the courts to face Wake Forest on Sunday at 3 p.m. UNC will be honoring its veteran leaders on Senior Day in what will be their last home match of the season.  

@fleetwilson

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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