Saturday, January 30
Athens, Ga.
Noon
North Carolina
4
at
3
Georgia
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
#1 Women's Tennis Prevails 4-3 At #7 Georgia
January 30, 2021 | Women's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. - Two women's tennis programs with eyes on winning national championships in 2021 battled back-and-forth for nearly five hours Saturday afternoon from the University of Georgia's Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts. In the end, No. 1 North Carolina prevailed 4-3 over the seventh-ranked Bulldogs.
North Carolina (4-0) extended its winning streak to 22 matches dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels pinned Georgia (1-1) with its first non-conference home loss since May 19, 2017, against Pepperdine, and snapped a 22-game home winning streak by the Bulldogs that began in April 2019.
Carolina coughed up the doubles point for the second time in as many matches. UGA's Morgan Coppoc and Elena Christofi secured the opening point with a 6-4 win on court two over Cameron Morra and Fiona Crawley, a pairing that never previously played together competitively before today.
Senior No. 4 Sara Daavettila squared the match at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-0, victory over No. 31 Lea Ma, the 131st career win for the Williamston, Michigan, native.
Freshman No. 120 Fiona Crawley remained unbeaten on the young season and gave Carolina a 2-1 edge with a 6-1, 7-5, win over No. 73 Morgan Coppoc. Three of Crawley's five victories have come over top-75 ranked players.
Momentum swung back in favor of the home-standing Bulldogs with victories on courts three and one to take a 3-2 lead. No. 6 Morra suffered a rare straight-set loss at the hands of No. 60 Meg Kowalski, while No. 4 Alexa Graham dropped a three-set affair with No. 16 Katarina Jokic.
With only four indoor courts available, the final two singles matches started later and that setup a dramatic finish with the visitors needing to win both to earn the win.
Freshman Reilly Tran got the call at six singles and responded with a 6-4, 6-2, victory over Ania Hertel to knot the score at 3-3.
The match would be decided at five singles between Carolina's Anika Yarlagadda and Georgia's Christofi. The Tar Heel sophomore dropped the opening set 7-5, but rallied with a 6-2 second-set win to force a decisive third set. Christofi trailed 5-2, but responded by capturing the next four games and had the chance to serve out the match leading 6-5. However, Yarlagadda was resilient in sending the final set to a tiebreaker that she would win 7-5.
Saturday was the first meeting between the two powerhouse programs since the 2019 ITA National Team Indoor Championship title match in Seattle that went in favor of the Bulldogs that day by the same, 4-3, margin.
Carolina is back in action next weekend as the defending champion at ITA Indoors. The Tar Heels are among eight teams that will compete Feb. 5-7 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Doubles
#10 Ania Hertel/Katarina Jozic (UGA) def. #3 Sara Daavettila/Alexa Graham (UNC) 6-2
#37 Morgan Coppoc/Elena Christofi (UGA) def. Cameron Morra/Fiona Crawley (UNC) 6-4
Alle Sanford/Reilly Tran (UNC) vs. Meg Kowalski/Lea Ma (UGA) 6-5, unfinished
Order of Finish: 1, 2
Singles
#16 Katarina Jokic (UGA) def. #3 Alexa Graham (UNC) 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
#4 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #31 Lea Ma (UGA) 6-3, 6-0
#60 Meg Kowalski (UGA) def. #6 Cameron Morra (UNC) 6-3, 7-6
#120 Fiona Crawley (UNC) def. #73 Morgan Coppoc (UGA) 6-1, 7-5
Anika Yarlagadda (UNC) def. Elena Christofi (UGA) 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Reilly Tran (UGA) def. Ania Hertel (UGA) 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3, 1, 6, 5
North Carolina (4-0) extended its winning streak to 22 matches dating back to the start of the 2020 campaign. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels pinned Georgia (1-1) with its first non-conference home loss since May 19, 2017, against Pepperdine, and snapped a 22-game home winning streak by the Bulldogs that began in April 2019.
Carolina coughed up the doubles point for the second time in as many matches. UGA's Morgan Coppoc and Elena Christofi secured the opening point with a 6-4 win on court two over Cameron Morra and Fiona Crawley, a pairing that never previously played together competitively before today.
Senior No. 4 Sara Daavettila squared the match at 1-1 with a 6-3, 6-0, victory over No. 31 Lea Ma, the 131st career win for the Williamston, Michigan, native.
Freshman No. 120 Fiona Crawley remained unbeaten on the young season and gave Carolina a 2-1 edge with a 6-1, 7-5, win over No. 73 Morgan Coppoc. Three of Crawley's five victories have come over top-75 ranked players.
Momentum swung back in favor of the home-standing Bulldogs with victories on courts three and one to take a 3-2 lead. No. 6 Morra suffered a rare straight-set loss at the hands of No. 60 Meg Kowalski, while No. 4 Alexa Graham dropped a three-set affair with No. 16 Katarina Jokic.
With only four indoor courts available, the final two singles matches started later and that setup a dramatic finish with the visitors needing to win both to earn the win.
Freshman Reilly Tran got the call at six singles and responded with a 6-4, 6-2, victory over Ania Hertel to knot the score at 3-3.
The match would be decided at five singles between Carolina's Anika Yarlagadda and Georgia's Christofi. The Tar Heel sophomore dropped the opening set 7-5, but rallied with a 6-2 second-set win to force a decisive third set. Christofi trailed 5-2, but responded by capturing the next four games and had the chance to serve out the match leading 6-5. However, Yarlagadda was resilient in sending the final set to a tiebreaker that she would win 7-5.
Saturday was the first meeting between the two powerhouse programs since the 2019 ITA National Team Indoor Championship title match in Seattle that went in favor of the Bulldogs that day by the same, 4-3, margin.
Carolina is back in action next weekend as the defending champion at ITA Indoors. The Tar Heels are among eight teams that will compete Feb. 5-7 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Doubles
#10 Ania Hertel/Katarina Jozic (UGA) def. #3 Sara Daavettila/Alexa Graham (UNC) 6-2
#37 Morgan Coppoc/Elena Christofi (UGA) def. Cameron Morra/Fiona Crawley (UNC) 6-4
Alle Sanford/Reilly Tran (UNC) vs. Meg Kowalski/Lea Ma (UGA) 6-5, unfinished
Order of Finish: 1, 2
Singles
#16 Katarina Jokic (UGA) def. #3 Alexa Graham (UNC) 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
#4 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #31 Lea Ma (UGA) 6-3, 6-0
#60 Meg Kowalski (UGA) def. #6 Cameron Morra (UNC) 6-3, 7-6
#120 Fiona Crawley (UNC) def. #73 Morgan Coppoc (UGA) 6-1, 7-5
Anika Yarlagadda (UNC) def. Elena Christofi (UGA) 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Reilly Tran (UGA) def. Ania Hertel (UGA) 6-4, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3, 1, 6, 5
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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