The Carolina men’s basketball team wasn’t the only group of Tar Heels to score an epic win over a rival during the weekend. The No. 1 UNC women’s tennis team put its undefeated record to the ultimate test on Sunday, visiting No. 2 NC State. The two teams were facing off for the second time since mid-February, when Carolina scored a thrilling win over the Wolfpack in the ITA indoor national semifinals. Sunday’s meeting would be no less captivating, as the Tar Heels had to hit the comeback trail early and often, but still pulled out a gutsy 4-3 win.

Unlike in the team’s first meeting this year, the Wolfpack took the doubles point in dominant fashion, as the top-ranked team of Elizabeth Scotty and Fiona Crawley fell 6-3, while Carson Tanguilig and Reilly Tran suffered a 6-1 defeat.

The singles portion of the dual saw five of the six matches go the maximum three sets, with all but one court featuring at least one nationally-ranked player. Crawley bounced back by winning her match in a tidy two sets, 6-3, 6-2. She’d have to wait a while for the conclusion of the afternoon’s proceedings.

Tanguilig fought back from dropping her first set to win in three, while Anika Yarlagadda and Tran were on the wrong end of a three-set comeback. Both won their first sets, yet dropped the final two. Cameron Morra battled with NC State’s Jaeda Daniel in a matchup of players ranked in the nation’s top 15, and Morra fought back from a second-set loss to take the third, 6-4. These results evened the dual up at 3-3, and all eyes turned to Scotty and NC State’s Abigail Rencheli. Rencheli had Scotty on the ropes, having won the first set and forced the second into a tiebreaker. A win would have given NC State its first victory over Carolina in almost 23 years.

But Scotty fought off Rencheli in the tiebreaker, 7-5, and then used her momentum to cruise through the decisive third set, winning 6-1 and giving Carolina its 21st straight win this season and 26th straight over NC State. UNC is the only undefeated team remaining in Division I women’s tennis.

All in all, the dual took almost four hours to complete. The Wolfpack’s No. 2 ranking was its highest in program history, yet the Tar Heels ensured they wouldn’t climb to the mountaintop just yet.

Carolina has three matches left in the regular season, the first of which will come at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club against Clemson on April 8.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Anthony Sorbellini

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