No. 1 UNC women's tennis gets record 35th straight ACC win, 6-1 over No. 29 Notre Dame

The No. 1 UNC women’s tennis team started off its ACC season with a 6-1 win against No. 29 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. on Friday —  a program-record 35th consecutive conference win.

What happened?

Coming into ACC play with a 12-0 record and recording big wins from doubles partners sophomore Fiona Crawley and junior Elizabeth Scotty earlier this season, North Carolina swept the competition in their Notre Dame singles matches. The Tar Heels won all six singles matches in the series, even after Notre Dame won the first of four singles sets. 

Notre Dame proceeded to record wins in two out of three doubles matches, but the Tar Heels’ performance and rally in the singles games left their undefeated season record untouched. 

Who stood out? 

The Crawley and Scotty duo, who finished first in the ITA Fall Championships this past fall, could not beat Notre Dame’s team of Page Freeman and Maria Olivia Castedo in doubles, but rallied in the singles sets and finished with scores of 6-7, 6-4, 6-1 and 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 respectively, getting the Tar Heels important wins to prop the score up even after dropping two key doubles points. 

The doubles team made up of first-year Carson Tanguilig and senior Cameron Morra was the only doubles duo from the Tar Heels to win their doubles set, triumphing over Notre Dame’s Meghan Coleman and Yashna Yellayi with a 6-3 win. Morra also contributed to getting a big lead over Notre Dame after winning 2-1 in her matches against the Fighting Irish’s Julia Andreach. 

Tanguilig also had an impressive showing on court 4, defeating Yellayi with three wins across as many sets. Tanguilig finished her night with scores of 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, and played a big part in the 6-1 win for the Tar Heels. 

On court dix, senior Allie Sanford had difficulty in her third singles set after a double fault and a couple of missed serves, but followed up almost immediately with a series of hard-hitters that propelled the set to 6-2, taking home another match win for the Tar Heels. 

When was it decided?

An early look at the singles matches made it look like the competition was extremely difficult — with three matches sitting at a stalemate for over three minutes, and two matches being in a deficit for the Tar Heels. Tanguilig was able to rally over her opponent and take home a later win with  scores of 6-2 and 6-4, but early on, it appeared that the competition might be rougher than  originally thought. 

The Tar Heels were able to rally and win most of the following sets after early losses resulted in four out of six of the first sets going to the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame did not win a single other set in the matches, and even after impressive showings on the doubles court, could not compensate for the 6-0 record in the singles matches. 

Why does it matter?

After winning the ITA championships last fall and maintaining an undefeated series record since last season, the No. 1 UNC women’s tennis team is primed to take over the ACC bracket. Their performance at Notre Dame, especially Morra and Tanguilig, shows that their position in the ACC is warranted.

Morra and Tanguilig had a difficult time earlier this season in their doubles matches, specifically at the ITA Indoor Championships, but their win this weekend — being the only Tar Heel tandem to take home a doubles match victory — shows they’re also stepping up to the plate for their ACC competition. Their singles sweep over Notre Dame showcases a promising team coming into the ACC season. 

When do they play next?

The team will head to Louisville on Sunday, Feb. 27 for an earlier match, then will be back in Chapel Hill to compete against Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia on Mar. 5 and 6. 

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com