Carolina women’s tennis phenom Jamie Loeb is continuing her dominant form into her sophomore year at Chapel Hill. Most recently, Loeb collected some more hardware at the American Collegiate Invitational, held at the site of the U.S. Open.

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UNC All-American Loeb was thrilled to add the inaugural American Collegiate Invitational title to her ever-expanding trophy case last Saturday.

Loeb says the new tournament is a wonderful experience for top college players to get a taste of the U.S. Open experience at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

“I’m really excited and really proud to be the first one to win this tournament. It’s a great experience and awesome how they’ve provided this tournament for collegiate players, giving us more awareness and opportunities,” Loeb says.

Loeb with the trophy (UNC Athletics)

Loeb with the trophy (UNC Athletics)

The local product turned Tar Heel waltzed through the field without dropping a set and beat an in-conference ACC rival in Virginia junior Julia Elbaba in the final match.

But Loeb says the match was a difficult one, featuring a 7-5 first set that took over an hour to complete.

“In the first set, I was struggling a little bit. Physically, I was getting tired. The heat was getting to me a little bit. But I knew I had to power through. Overall, it was pretty tough for both of us,” Loeb says.

The Invitational included eight men and eight women selected from the best players from across the nation. The winners in both divisions are guaranteed a wild card into the qualifying draw of the 2015 U.S. Open.

Jamie Loeb (Sportimeny.com)

Jamie Loeb (Sportimeny.com)

Loeb has that to look forward to next summer, but for now, she’s just enjoying her latest achievement. She says it’s special to have so much support from family and friends.

“I’m so happy all my family, coaches and friends could be here. It was awesome having their support. The crowd got behind both of us. It was awesome in general. I’m really happy everyone was here,” Loeb says.

As for the Tar Heels, they’ll get their fall season underway this weekend in the Ranked +1 Tournament held at the Cary Tennis Park from Sept. 12-14.

With top-ranked Loeb and another four of her teammates all listed in the preseason ITA rankings, Carolina figures to have a legitimate chance for a run at a national championship that just eluded their grasp a year ago in a 4-3 loss to UCLA in the title match.