The No. 4 overall seed UNC women’s tennis team cruised in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at the Chewning Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, defeating Navy 4-0.

A pair of 6-1 wins in doubles secured the early 1-0 advantage for Carolina, and the team was just as dominant in singles. Tar Heels won the first set on five out of six courts, with Reilly Tran and Fiona Crawley each winning 6-0. Tran and Crawley each finished out straight-set wins 6-1 in the second set, with Crawley’s match serving as the clincher. Carson Tanguilig also won 6-1, 6-0 on Court No. 3.

Carolina will face Wisconsin in the second round on Saturday. The Badgers defeated William & Mary 4-0 in the first match of the day at Chewning. Saturday’s second-round matchup is scheduled for 3 p.m.

On the men’s side, a down-to-the-wire match between Carolina and Memphis went the way of the Tigers on Friday, as UNC fell 4-3 in Knoxville. The Tar Heels’ season is over.

UNC started the match off on the right foot by winning the doubles point and held a 3-1 lead by virtue of singles wins from Will Peters and Karl Poling, but the Tigers won the final three singles matches of the day to complete the comeback. Patrick Schoen and Memphis’ Pau Fanlo battled through a tense third set and into a tiebreak, but Fanlo prevailed 8-6 to provide the clinching point on Court No. 3.

The loss snaps a streak of nine consecutive appearances in the NCAA Round of 16 for Carolina. The Tar Heels end the season 14-10 overall.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati


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