University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: ACC
UNC Debuts At No. 5 In 2018 Rankings
January 3, 2018 | Women's Tennis
TEMPE, Arizona - The North Carolina women's tennis team will enter the dual match portion of the 2017-18 collegiate tennis season as the No. 5 ranked team, as Oracle and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced the Oracle/ITA Collegiate Team Rankings on Wednesday.
The Tar Heels begin 2018 where they left off the 2017 campaign as the No. 5 team in the nation. In fact, Carolina is the only team in the country to finish in the top five of the ITA final rankings each of the last five seasons.
Stanford begins the new year ranked No. 1, followed by a trio of schools from the Southeastern Conference - Vanderbilt, defending NCAA champion Florida and Georgia - with the Tar Heels rounding out the top-5.
UNC leads a group of four ranked programs hailing from the Atlantic Coast Conference: Georgia Tech (7), Duke (9) and Miami (19). The two-time defending ACC Champions, Carolina defeated the Yellow Jackets, 4-3, in the 2017 final in Rome, Georgia.
Carolina will once again be tested throughout the dual match season, having scheduled non-conference home matches with No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 10 Michigan on top of a grueling 16-match ACC slate that includes the aforementioned four ranked teams along with NC State and Florida State, who are both receiving votes in the preseason poll.
The fall campaign was another successful couple of months for the Tar Heels. Freshman Alle Sanford made the biggest splash by winning the Oracle/ITA Masters singles title, reached the quarterfinals of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championship and represented Team USA at the annual Master'U BNP Paris International Collegiate Team Competition in Marcq-en-Baroeul, France.
North Carolina head coach Brian Kalbas, the ACC's all-time leader by winning percentage, has five singles players and four different doubles combinations at his disposal this spring that are nationally ranked.
The Tar Heels are the only team in the country to boast three players inside the top-20. The trio includes Sanford at No. 9, sophomore Makenna Jones at No. 11 and junior Jessie Aney checks in 18th.
Sophomore Sara Daavetilla is 38th, and junior Chloe Ouellet-Pizer is 124th.
In doubles, Aney and sophomore Alexa Graham are leading the way at No. 18, followed by Daavettila and Sanford at No. 37, Jones and Ouellet-Pizer at No. 51, and junior Marika Akkerman and Ouellet-Pizer at No. 53.
The spring season begins with the Freeman Memorial Championship in Las Vegas that will run Jan. 12-14 and hosted by UNLV. The dual match season starts on the road with matches against William & Mary and Richmond on Jan. 20 in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The home opener is another doubleheader on Tuesday, Jan. 23 versus East Carolina and Davidson from the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
The Tar Heels begin 2018 where they left off the 2017 campaign as the No. 5 team in the nation. In fact, Carolina is the only team in the country to finish in the top five of the ITA final rankings each of the last five seasons.
Stanford begins the new year ranked No. 1, followed by a trio of schools from the Southeastern Conference - Vanderbilt, defending NCAA champion Florida and Georgia - with the Tar Heels rounding out the top-5.
UNC leads a group of four ranked programs hailing from the Atlantic Coast Conference: Georgia Tech (7), Duke (9) and Miami (19). The two-time defending ACC Champions, Carolina defeated the Yellow Jackets, 4-3, in the 2017 final in Rome, Georgia.
Carolina will once again be tested throughout the dual match season, having scheduled non-conference home matches with No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 10 Michigan on top of a grueling 16-match ACC slate that includes the aforementioned four ranked teams along with NC State and Florida State, who are both receiving votes in the preseason poll.
The fall campaign was another successful couple of months for the Tar Heels. Freshman Alle Sanford made the biggest splash by winning the Oracle/ITA Masters singles title, reached the quarterfinals of the Oracle ITA National Fall Championship and represented Team USA at the annual Master'U BNP Paris International Collegiate Team Competition in Marcq-en-Baroeul, France.
North Carolina head coach Brian Kalbas, the ACC's all-time leader by winning percentage, has five singles players and four different doubles combinations at his disposal this spring that are nationally ranked.
The Tar Heels are the only team in the country to boast three players inside the top-20. The trio includes Sanford at No. 9, sophomore Makenna Jones at No. 11 and junior Jessie Aney checks in 18th.
Sophomore Sara Daavetilla is 38th, and junior Chloe Ouellet-Pizer is 124th.
In doubles, Aney and sophomore Alexa Graham are leading the way at No. 18, followed by Daavettila and Sanford at No. 37, Jones and Ouellet-Pizer at No. 51, and junior Marika Akkerman and Ouellet-Pizer at No. 53.
The spring season begins with the Freeman Memorial Championship in Las Vegas that will run Jan. 12-14 and hosted by UNLV. The dual match season starts on the road with matches against William & Mary and Richmond on Jan. 20 in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The home opener is another doubleheader on Tuesday, Jan. 23 versus East Carolina and Davidson from the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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