In a prelude to the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, the No. 1 UNC women’s tennis dominated the University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawks in its dual-match opener on Tuesday, after starting the season strong against No. 8 NC State and No. 10 UVA in the Tar Heel Invitational last weekend.
What happened?
This was the dual-match season opener for both teams, with the Tar Heels not having participated in dual-match play since the 2020 season ended prematurely last March. The COVID-19 pandemic saw the remainder of the Tar Heels' dual-match schedule cancelled, as well as the ACC and NCAA Championships. These cancellations were disappointing for a UNC team that hadn't dropped a dual-match all season and didn't look to be anywhere near doing so. The Seahawks, by comparison, had a 4-7 record in the 2020 season.
The Tar Heels were beyond victorious in their demolition of the Seahawks, not dropping so much as a set during the 7-0 victory. In fact, no doubles team or singles player dropped more than a single game to UNCW, save for the doubles team of seniors Sara Daavettila and Alexa Graham, who beat their opponents 6-2. When it was all said and done, UNC's swift and crushing victory will help prepare them for the tough competition visiting the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center this coming weekend.
Who stood out?
The Tar Heels had many strong contributors on Tuesday, with Daavettila getting her 128th college career singles win in today’s matchup with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of UNCW's Charlotte Madison. This win puts Daavettila in fourth place in program history, with a full season left to play to further advance her place.
Reaching that might be hard, though, considering that Graham sits in third place on that list, with her 6-0, 6-1 drubbing of UNCW's Celeste Matute marking her 131st victory. By the end of this season, both Graham and Daavettila will likely be among the top-three Tar Heels for all-time singles wins.
Promising freshman Fiona Crawley also played well, improving her record to 3-0 for the Tar Heels by defeating the Seahawks' Anna Daniels, 6-1, 6-0. But the most crushing victory came by way of sophomore Elizabeth Scotty, who was the first to finish her singles match after sweeping her opponents in both sets: 6-0, 6-0.
