For the third consecutive year, the North Carolina women's tennis team lost in the NCAA Team Championship at the hands of Stanford, this time in the Final Four by a score of 4-2.
What happened?
The second-seeded Tar Heels began the day by dropping the doubles point for the second straight match, having previously won 34 doubles points in a row dating back to last season.
The No. 2 duo of Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham lost, 6-4, and the pairing of Sara Daavettila and Alle Sanford lost, 6-3. No. 12 Makenna Jones and Cameron Morra won their doubles match, 6-4, but it wasn't enough to avoid a 1-0 deficit heading into singles play.
The third-seeded Cardinal pushed the lead to 3-0 by securing singles wins over No. 7 Graham, 6-1, 6-3, and Sanford, 7-5, 6-1. No. 46 Morra was the first Tar Heel to get on the board, posting a 6-3, 6-4 victory, and Daavettila followed with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 comeback win to cut the Stanford lead to one.
Needing only one point to clinch the win, however, Stanford proved to be too much to overcome. Successive losses by Aney and No. 5 Jones sealed the victory for the Cardinal, and ended the Tar Heels' title hopes.
Who stood out?
Daavettila played brilliantly in singles, overcoming a quick loss in the first set to fight for a gritty 7-5, 6-2 victory. If the Tar Heels had completed the comeback, Daavettila's win surely would have been remembered as a veritable swing of momentum.
Daavettila was preceded by Morra, whose 6-3, 6-4 win gave the Tar Heels their first point of the day. Along with Jones, Morra was able to do her part in doubles, winning the match on court two, though North Carolina dropped the doubles point.