North Carolina
Georgia
UNC Returns To ITA National Indoor Championship Match
February 7, 2016 | Women's Tennis
MADISON, Wisconsin—The third-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels will return to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship match after a 4-2 victory over second-seed Georgia Sunday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
North Carolina (10-0) will play fourth-seeded Cal (5-0) at 12 pm ET Monday in search of its second straight title and third in four years.
The Bulldogs were quick to strike first in the doubles matches. Silvia Garcia and Caroline Brinson blanked No. 16 Jessie Aney/Kate Vialle 6-0 to take the first of the three matches.
No. 2 Hayley Carter/Whitney Kay battled back from a 4-3 deficit to No. 14 Ellen Perez/Mariana Gould to take three games straight and even the doubles match with a 6-4 win.
Moments later, and for the second straight day, Ashley Dai and Chloe Ouellet-Pizer clinched the doubles point for the Heels with a 6-3 win over Laura Patterson and Kennedy Shaffer.
In singles, Georgia evened up the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win from No. 109 Shaffer over Vialle.
No. 68 Aney responded moments later with a 6-0, 6-4 win over No. 82 Garcia to put the Tar Heels back on top 2-1.
No. 88 Kay dropped her first set to No. 22 Brinson 1-6 before turning the tables on the Bulldog and taking the 6-1 win in the second set. Kay then finished off the match with a 6-3 score to put Carolina one point away from returning to the title match.
Mariana Gould held off the Carolina victory momentarily with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory over Marika Akkerman on court five to cut the deficit to one at 3-2.
It all came down to courts one and six. #112 Ouellet-Pizer earned a 6-1 victory in the first set over Patterson on court six. Patterson battled back, however, to take the second set at 6-2, leaving it down to the third. Ouellet-Pizer trailed at one time 4-1 in the set, but fought back with five straight games to take the set 6-4 and put Carolina back in the championship match.
Georgia (5-1) earned its first loss of the season in this rematch of the 2015 finale.
Results
Singles
#6 Hayley Carter (UNC) vs. #12 Ellen Perez (UGA) 7-5, 4-6, 1-2, unfinished
#88 Whitney Kay (UNC) def. #22 Caroline Brinson (UGA) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
#68 Jessie Aney (UNC) def. #82 Silvia Garcia (UGA) 6-0, 6-4
#109 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) def. Kate Vialle (UNC) 6-1, 6-2
Mariana Gould (UGA) def. Marika Akkerman (UNC) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
#112 Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (UNC) def. Laura Patterson (UGA) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 5, 6
Doubles
#2 Carter/Kay (UNC) def. #14 Perez/Gould (UGA) 6-4
Garcia/Brinson (UGA) def. #16 Aney/Vialle (UNC) 6-0
Dai/Ouellet-Pizer (UNC) def. Patterson/Shaffer (UGA) 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Players Mentioned
