Women's Tennis Faces Cal Sunday At NCAAs

ORLANDO - Top seed and the No. 1 ranked North Carolina women's tennis team has advanced to the NCAA Team Championship Round of 16 for the 11th consecutive year and will face No. 16 seed Cal on Sunday, May, 16 at 7 p.m. ET at the USTA National Campus.

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Tennis Channel will pick up coverage on Wednesday with Men's and Women's Quarterfinals from 5:30-9:30 p.m. ET.

HOW WE GOT HERE
North Carolina (28-0), unbeaten in 46 dual matches, picked up back-to-back 4-0 wins over SC State and Old Dominion last weekend in the opening two rounds of the championship from its home grounds in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels have won their last 22 straight duals in regional play.

Cal (19-6) defeated San Jose State and No. 26 Kentucky on its home courts last weekend to advance to Sunday's match at the USTA National Campus.

SERIES HISTORY
Cal leads 2-0 in the NCAA Team Championship. The Bears won in Berkley by a 4-1 scoreline in the second round of the 2001 NCAA Regionals and won a Round of 16 match, 4-1, in 2003 in Gainesville, Florida. That was the final match for then Tar Heel coach Jen Callen, who was replaced by Brian Kalbas on Aug. 1, 2003.

The two programs split a pair of matches more recently at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Carolina earned a 4-2 victory in the 2017 quarterfinals. However, in 2016 Cal knocked off the Tar Heels to win the 2016 indoor national championship, 4-3, in the finals, to earn its first national team title.

TEAM CAPSULES

North Carolina (GoHeels.com)
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
National Seed: No. 1
Team Ranking: No. 1
Singles/Doubles Rankings: Sara Daavettila (2), Cameron Morra (27), Makenna Jones (32), Fiona Crawley (36), Alexa Graham (41), Elizabeth Scotty (97), Anika Yarlagadda (110), Reilly Tran (117); Daavettila/Morra (2), Jones/Scotty (4), Alle Sanford/Tran (34)
Record: 28-0
Bid: Automatic (ACC champion)

UNC is making its 22nd successive appearance in the NCAA Team Championship and 17th in a row under the leadership of head coach Brian Kalbas. The five-time reigning ACC champions own a 50-21 mark in NCAA team competition. A victory over the Bears would send the program to its 10th appearance in the quarterfinals.

Sara Daavettila (No. 1 seed), Fiona Crawley, Alexa Graham, Makenna Jones and Cameron Morra will compete in the NCAA Singles Championship, while Daavettila and Morra (No. 2 seed) and Jones and Elizabeth Scotty (No. 4 seed) will do battle in the NCAA Doubles Championship upon conclusion of the team championship.

By virtue of earning a national seed, Daavettila, Jones, Morra and Scotty have already earned All-America status for the 2020-21 season.

Daavettila and Kalbas were named the ACC Player and Coach of the Year, respectively. Led by Daavettila on the first team, Carolina placed a program-record five student-athletes on All-ACC teams. Graham and Morra were placed on the second team, while Crawley and Jones were selected for the third team.

Cal Bears (calbears.com)
Location: Berkely, California
National Seed: No. 16
National Ranking: No. 17
Singles Rankings: Haley Giavara (31)
Record: 19-6
Bid: Automatic (Pac 12 Conference champion)

Cal captured its first Pac-12 tournament title with a 4-2 victory over top-seed UCLA. The third-seeded Bears won the 2014 conference title prior to the inception of the league's postseason tournament. Cal is riding a five-match winning streak heading into its Round of 16 match with the Tar Heels.

Haley Giavara earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Singles Championship, while Giavara and Valentina Ivanov will compete as an at-large selection at the NCAA Doubles Championship.

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Players Mentioned

Fiona Crawley

Sara Daavettila

Alexa Graham

Makenna Jones

Cameron Morra

Alle Sanford

Elizabeth Scotty

Reilly Tran

Anika Yarlagadda