North Carolina, Pepperdine, Texas and North Carolina State advanced to the NCAA women's final four with quarterfinal victories Wednesday at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
Bears’ championship prospects disrupted by Tar Heels
Lisi Ludwig/Senior Staff
Though the Cal women’s tennis team’s Pac-12 tournament victory and five-match win streak heading into the third round of the NCAA championships seemed to foreshadow a fairy tale run for the blue and gold, their title hopes were put out by No. 1 North Carolina last weekend. The Tar Heels downed the Bears 4-0 on Sunday night at the USTA National Tennis Center in Orlando, bringing Cal’s memorable and highly successful season to a close.
Progressing past the Tar Heels promised to be a daunting task for the Bears. North Carolina entered the postseason boasting a regular-season resume that included 26 consecutive wins, an ACC Championship and an ITA Indoor Team title. The team’s championship pedigree became quickly evident in the doubles point.
North Carolina women take 46-match win streak to Orlando NCAA Championships This is the membership endpoints html.
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The North Carolina women were a perfect 18-0 last spring when the COVID pandemic shut down the 2020 NCAA tennis season. The abrupt end was a bitter blow for the program, particularly the three UNC seniors who have formed the bedrock of the Chapel Hill outfit Sara Daavettila, Alexa Graham and Makenna Jones.
But the NCAA’s decision to grant student-athletes an extra year of eligibility provided an opportunity for the Tar Heels to complete some unfinished business. Fourteen months, a second straight ITA National Indoors title, an ACC championship and 28 dual-match wins later, the nation’s No. 1 team is four matches away from finishing the job at the NCAA Championships. Along the way, their two-season, 46-match winning streak has shattered the previous school record of 27.
STILLWATER, Oklahoma – North Carolina would not be denied in winning back-to-back ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time in program history.
Trailing 3-2 in the match, the top-seeded Tar Heels found themselves in a deep hole on the two remaining courts they had to win. As champions do, North Carolina (7-0) rallied behind wins from Fiona Crawley and Elizabeth Scotty for a remarkable 4-3 victory over No. 3 Texas on Sunday night from Oklahoma State’s Greenwood Tennis Center to record the fifth indoor national championship in the last nine seasons.
Carolina has won indoor national crowns in 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2021. Only Stanford (10) and Florida (7) have won more indoor championships.