North Carolina
Virginia
#4 Tar Heels Defeat #29 Virginia To Remain Unbeaten In ACC
March 26, 2017 | Women's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL - The fourth-ranked North Carolina women's tennis team defeated ACC rival No. 29 Virginia on Sunday, beating the Cavaliers 5-2 at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
The win keeps the Tar Heels (20-1, 7-0 ACC) unbeaten in conference play and drops the Cavaliers to 7-7 overall and 5-2 in the ACC.
North Carolina faced an early challenge after dropping the doubles point for only the second time this season. Rachael James-Baker and Chloe Ouellet-Pizer, powered by three breaks, came away with a 6-2 win over Camille Favero and Brooke Sutherland on court three.
Virginia responded on court two with a 6-2 win of its own as Cassie Mercer and Teodora Radosavljevic defeated Tar Heel duo Jessie Aney and Sara Daavettila. In a tight match on court one, Cassandra Vazquez and Alexa Graham tried to battle back from an early break, but Virginia's Rosie Johanson and Meghan Kelley held on to win 6-4, giving the Cavaliers the opening point.
UNC opened singles play by taking four first sets. Vazquez's 6-0, 6-0 shutout win against Sutherland on court six tied the score at one apiece.
Ouellet-Pizer won by retirement over Favero 6-2, 4-1 on court five, giving the Tar Heels the 2-1 lead.
No. 40 Graham put North Carolina one point away from clinching the match with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kelley on court three.
Minutes later, Daavettila, ranked ninth nationally, broke No. 44 Johanson's serve to win 6-3, 6-2 and clinch the match for the Tar Heels.
The teams continued play on courts two and four, both of which went into third-set tiebreakers. No. 23 Aney, playing against 94th-ranked Mercer, dropped her first set 6-2 but stormed back to win 6-4 in the second set and 10-2 in the tiebreaker.
Virginia's Radosavljevic defeated No. 77 Makenna Jones 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-3) on court four to put the final match score at 5-2 in favor of the Tar Heels.
UNC continues a competitive ACC slate as it hosts No. 6 Georgia Tech on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Singles Results
#9 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #44 Rosie Johanson (Virginia) 6-3, 6-2
#23 Jessie Aney (UNC) def. #94 Cassie Mercer (Virginia) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-2)
#40 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. Meghan Kelley (Virginia) 6-1, 6-1
Teodora Radosavljevic (Virginia) def. #77 Makenna Jones (UNC) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-3)
Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (UNC) def. Camille Favero (Virginia) 6-2, 4-1, won by retirement
Cassandra Vazquez (UNC) def. Brooke Sutherland (Virginia) 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 3, 1, 2, 4
Doubles Results
Johanson/Kelly (Virginia) def. Vazquez/Graham (UNC) 6-4
Mercer/Radosavljevic (Virginia) def. Aney/Daavettila (UNC) 6-2
James-Baker/Ouellet-Pizer (UNC) def. Favero/Sutherland (Virginia) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Players Mentioned
