Not only was Hayley Carter seeking her first national championship on Sunday at the Michael Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma–the UNC junior, ranked No. 1 in the nation, was hoping to give the Tar Heels back-to-back singles titles after Jamie Loeb won it all a year ago.
Unfortunately, Danielle Collins had other ideas.
The Virginia Cavaliers’ star defeated Carter in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Final–putting on an absolute clinic in a matchup between the country’s top two players.
It’s the second career national championship for Collins, who also won as a sophomore in 2014.
For Carter, it’s a bitter pill to swallow after being atop the individual rankings since March 8. Her reign of nearly three months began shortly after she earned a straight set victory (7-6, 6-3) over Collins on March 4.
On top of that, it was Collins and Virginia that eliminated the Tar Heels from the NCAA Team Tournament just last week.
The match was just the third time all season Carter was defeated in straight sets–and first since November.
A native of Hilton Head, South Carolina, Carter finishes the season with a record of 49-5.
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