North Carolina
UNC women’s tennis beats NC State for NCAA title :: WRALSportsFan.com
The North Carolina women’s tennis team now has an outdoor national title to go with its collection of indoor crowns.
The Tar Heels defeated rival NC State 4-1 for its first NCAA national title Saturday at the USTA campus in Orlando, Florida.
UNC, the top seed in the tournament, has won four consecutive ITA Indoor Team national championships and seven overall. It was UNC’s first appearance in the NCAA title match since 2014 when it lost to UCLA.
No. 3-seeded NC State defeated the Tar Heels for the ACC title in late April. UNC had won the regular-season meeting between the rivals 7-0. It was NC State’s best finish in the NCAA event.
On Saturday, the Tar Heels won the doubles point, taking two of three matches. That left UNC needing to win three of six singles matches to earn the crown.
At No. 1 singles, NC State’s Diana Schnaider defeated UNC’s Reese Brantmeier, 6-3, 6-4.
At No. 2 singles, UNC’s Fiona Crawley beat NC State’s Alana Smith, 6-2, 7-6.
At No. 3 singles, UNC’s Carson Tanguilig defeated NC State’s Amelia Rajecki 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
At No. 4 singles, UNC’s Elizabeth Scotty beat NC State’s Abigail Rencheli 7-6, 6-3.
The other two matches were in the third set when Tanguilig delivered the winning match.
It is the 49th NCAA title for a UNC, and women’s tennis is the eight program overall and fifth women’s program to win a national title for the Tar Heels.