In search of back-to-back national championships at the ITA National Indoor Tournament on Tuesday in Seattle, the second-ranked UNC women’s tennis team came up just short in a 4-3 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs.

It was the fifth consecutive season that UNC has reached the championship match at the event, but the program has yet to win it in consecutive years.

The Tar Heels opened the match by winning the doubles point and getting out to a 1-0 lead prior to the beginning of singles play.

From there, though, Georgia began to take control–winning three of the first four matches to finish to take a 3-2 lead.

A dramatic three-set win from UNC’s Sara Daavettila (3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3)) over No. 10 Marta Gonzales then tied the team score at 3-3 and left the national championship hanging in the balance.

Another tightly contested match between No. 6 Makenna Jones for UNC and Georgia’s No. 2 Katarina Jokic–two of the top players in the nation–saw Jokic come out on top by a score of 6-7 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (2) to clinch the title for the Bulldogs.

With the loss, UNC falls to 9-1 this season. Georgia, meanwhile, improved to 7-0 with the win.

Up Next:

The Tar Heels return to the court next Tuesday, Feb. 19 when they host both UNCG and Appalachian State at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center in Chapel Hill.

 

 

Photo via UNC Athletics

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