UNC’s Reese Brantmeier Named ACC Women’s Tennis Player of the Year for 2nd Straight Year

UNC’s Reese Brantmeier was named the ACC Player of the Year this week for the second consecutive season, and four other teammates earned All-ACC honors as well.

Brantmeier was named first team All-ACC honors in both singles and doubles, earning the doubles honor with partner Alanis Hamilton. In the 2026 spring season, Brantmeier is 15-2 in singles and 19-4 in doubles, ending the regular season with five consecutive ranked singles wins. She was named ACC Player of the Week three times.

Brantmeier has already added to her trophy case in her senior season, capturing the NCAA Singles championship in November. The team tournament, which Brantmeier helped UNC win as a freshman in 2023, begins next week. Brantmeier’s back-to-back ACC Player of the Year wins makes her the first Tar Heel to accomplish such a feat since Hayley Carter did so in 2016 and 2017.

Brantmeier has established herself as a household name in collegiate tennis as much for headlines off the court as on it. In 2024, she filed a federal lawsuit against the NCAA for restrictions on individual athletes keeping prize money won in non-NCAA competitions. Brantmeier had earned prize money for competing in the 2021 U.S. Open when she was in high school, but was only allowed to keep $10,000. In February of this year, WRAL reported Brantmeier and the NCAA had reached a settlement.

Elsewhere on the All-ACC teams, UNC’s Tatum Evans and Oby Kajuru were named to the second team in singles, while Kajuru and partner Susanna Maltby were named to the second team in doubles.

UNC enters the NCAA Tournament with a 24-3 overall record and 11-1 mark in ACC play. The Tar Heels are expected to host opening round matches at the Chewning Tennis Center, where they are 15-0 this spring. The full NCAA Tournament field will be released Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jerome M. Ibrahim

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