The No. 1 UNC women’s team clinched its spot in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship Friday afternoon, defeating No. 16 overall seed Florida in another 4-0 decision. It’s the third straight 4-0 win for Carolina in the tournament so far.
๐ผ๐ง๐ ๐๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐?
Carolina advances to its 11th Elite 8 appearance in program history!#GoHeels ๐๐พ @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/MEuBCDUwmr
— Carolina Women's Tennis ๐๐พ (@UNC_wtennis) May 13, 2022
The Tar Heels took the doubles point in dominant fashion, with the second-ranked team of Elizabeth Scotty and Fiona Crawley winning 6-1 and the team of Alle Sanford and Carson Tanguilig emerging victorious by the same score.
“Doubles was amazing, probably the best doubles we’ve played all year long,” said head coach Brian Kalbas. “Florida is so well-coached and aggressive, but we took them out of their game in doubles.”
The singles portion of the match would be over quickly. Anika Yarlagadda made short work of her Gator opponent in a 6-0, 6-2 win, before Scotty and Crawley each also won in straight sets. The wins didn’t quite do justice to the competitive nature of the singles matches; UNC had dropped the first set on the three other courts and were likely heading for three sets on each.
Nevertheless, Carolina is now through to the final eight of the NCAA Championship for the 11th time in program history. All but one of those times have come under Kalbas.
“It’s so gratifying to see different people step up and achieve great things for this year’s team,” Kalbas said. “It’s a great accomplishment to get to the finals site and the Elite Eight.”
The remaining matches of the NCAA Championship will be played in Champaign, IL, on the campus of the University of Illinois. The quarterfinal round sees an intriguing matchup for the Tar Heels, as they will face off against No. 8 overall seed Pepperdine next Friday. The Waves, last year’s national runners-up, upset top-seeded and previously undefeated Carolina in the 2021 national semifinals. A start time for Friday’s rematch has yet to be announced.
Featured image via UNC Women’s Tennis on Twitter
Chapelboro.comย does not charge subscription fees, and you canย directly support our efforts in local journalismย here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you byย signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines