The No. 1 North Carolina women’s tennis team (16-0, 2-0 ACC) came out on top against the Virginia Tech Hokies (8-3, 0-2 ACC), winning 4-3 in Blacksburg on Sunday.
What happened?
On courts one and two, the Tar Heels came out swift and dominant for doubles play.
The No. 37 team of senior Elizabeth Scotty and first-year Reese Brantmeier swept Virginia Tech’s junior Katie Andreini and sophomore Dariya Radulova 6-0 to give UNC the advantage. No. 4 junior Fiona Crawley and sophomore Carson Tanguilig put away the doubles point for the Tar Heels with their own 6-2 victory.
In singles, North Carolina and Virginia Tech split the first set wins, 3-3. No. 1 Crawley, No. 27 Brantmeier and No. 7 Tanguilig clinched the first set – each player only dropping one game. Meanwhile, the other half of UNC’s lineup lagged behind with No. 75 junior Reilly Tran, junior Sara McClure and sophomore Lindsay Zink falling in their first sets.
Ultimately, Crawley, Brantmeier and Tanguilig’s early advantage allowed them to defeat their opponents in straight sets. The top-3 seeds for the North Carolina team clinched the necessary three points for the Tar Heels and secured another match victory before the Hokies began putting points on the scoreboard.
Despite winning the second set and forcing a tiebreak, both Tran and Zink fell in the tiebreak. McClure lost in straight sets to junior Erika Cheng 1-6, 4-6.
Who stood out?
Crawley continued to be a reliable contributor in singles after her decisive 6-1, 6-0 over the Hokies’ Radulova. As the first singles match to finish, Crawley gave the Tar Heels the early lead. The UNC junior has only lost one singles match so far this season.
