On an afternoon where top-seeded Sara Daavettila came up short in the semifinals of the NCAA Women’s Singles Tournament, the UNC duo of Makenna Jones and Elizabeth Scotty kept the Tar Heels’ national title hopes alive on Thursday in Orlando with a win in the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Tournament.

Jones and Scotty — the No. 4 seed as a pairing — took down No. 12 seed Alana Smith and Anna Rogers of NC State by a score of 6-3, 6-4 to become just the second doubles pairing in UNC history to ever reach the NCAA Championship match.

They improved their record in doubles competition this season to 17-2 with the win and joined 2007 national champions Jenna Long and Sara Anundsen as the only Tar Heels to make it this far.

Friday’s championship match will pit Jones and Scotty against the Texas tandem of Kylie Collins and Lulu Sun– a pair of freshmen from the NCAA champion Longhorns seeded No. 19 in the event. That match is set to begin at 1:30 p.m.

It will be the last chance for the high-powered Tar Heels to secure a national title this season.

UNC went 30-0 before falling to Pepperdine in the semifinals of the NCAA Team Tournament, then suffered another blow Thursday in the NCAA Singles Tournament when Daavettila fell to No. 3 seed Emma Navarro of Virginia in a three-set match (6-4, 2-6, 6-2) lasting over two and a half hours.

Daavettila ends her five-year career at UNC ranked second in career wins with 149, trailing only Hayley Carter — who had 168. Earlier this week, the Michigan native became the first Tar Heel to ever reach three NCAA singles quarterfinals and just the fifth to ever reach the semifinals.

The 2021 ACC Player of the Year also sits in a tie with Carter for most ITA All-American awards in UNC history with seven.

Another interesting fact to note is that Daavettila and doubles partner Cameron Morra were eliminated in this year’s Doubles Tournament by the same Texas duo that Jones and Scotty will face for all the marbles on Friday.

 

 

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