Having won 20 matches in a row entering Saturday’s second round of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Team Tournament, UNC found itself in an unfamiliar situation against Northwestern–needing one of its final two singles competitors to keep the season alive.

Luckily for head coach Brian Kalbas, some big heart showed up in the form of the team’s smallest player.

Senior Ashley Dai, who stands just 5-feet-2-inches tall, defeated the Wildcats’ Brooke Rischbeith 7-6, 3-6, 6-0 to give the Tar Heels a 4-2 victory at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill.

Had Rischbeith been able to win the third set against Dai, and thus the individual match, Northwestern would have been in prime position to take the overall team match.

The Tar Heels found themselves in a bit of an unfamiliar position late in the match against Northwestern. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

The Tar Heels found themselves in a bit of an unfamiliar position late in the match against Northwestern. (Jeffrey A. Camarati/ UNC Athletics)

Alicia Barnett held a 4-3 lead over UNC’s Jessie Aney in the third set of their singles competition, which was stopped only because Dai clinched the win for the Tar Heels.

UNC (31-2) earned the doubles team point with stellar showings from the teams of Aney and Kate Vialle–who won their match 6-0–and Hayley Carter and Whitney Kay–who won their match 6-3.

Not until singles competition did Northwestern mount a push, splitting the first four of those contests with the Tar Heels.

Carter (7-5, 6-4) and freshman Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (6-2, 6-2) each did their part for UNC, though, picking up points against a Wildcat team that played well above the 14-11 record it finishes the year with.

But it was Dai that came up big for the Tar Heels when it mattered most, sending them onto the next round with their national title hopes still intact.

Up Next:

UNC will be back in action on Thursday, May 19 when it takes on an ACC rival, Virginia, at 10:00 a.m.

The Tar Heels defeated Virginia 4-3 in Charlottesville back on March 3, and again in the ACC Tournament on April 23–but by a score of 4-1 in the second matchup.

Game Notes:

  • UNC has now set a new school record with 31 wins in a season. The Tar Heels 16-0 record at home this year also extends their home winning streak to 41 matches.
  • The match was just the 12th time in 33 outings that the Tar Heels allowed their opponents to score at least two team points.
  • On 14 occasions this season UNC has shutout its opponent.

 

FINAL STATS

FULL BRACKET

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