Three Advance In Opening Day At NCAA Singles Championship

ORLANDO - Three North Carolina women's tennis players picked up victories on Monday in the opening round of the NCAA Singles Championship from USTA National Campus.

No. 7 Alexa Graham got a full day of tennis underway with a morning match against TCU's No. 49 Ellie Douglas, the ITA Rookie of the Year from the Texas Region and the Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

Graham, a first team All-ACC selection, cruised to a 6-2 first-set victory, before Douglas outlasted the Garden City, N.Y., native in the second, 7-5. Douglas served to stay in the match in the third, but could not stop the Tar Heel junior from advancing to the second round with a similar 7-5 final-set victory.

Next up for Carolina was freshman No. 46 Cameron Morra, who made her debut in the event against senior No. 34 Silvia Ambrosio of Purdue. It was a slow start for the ACC Freshman of the Year, but rallied in a big way to extend her winning streak to 11 matches with an 0-6, 6-2, 6-0 result.

No. 20 Sara Daavettila faced off with Kate Fahey, the third seed and the No. 3 ranked player in the nation, from Michigan for the second time in 2019. Back in February up in Ann Arbor, the Tar Heels came away with a 5-2 win, but Fahey faced little resistance in a 6-1, 6-2, victory over the UNC junior at No. 1 singles.

Monday's match turned out to be a three setter that went over 2 1/ hours in the 90 degree heat of central Florida. Daavettila entered the match having won all five of her singles matches in the NCAA Team Championship, and her stellar form continued by registering the biggest upset of the day, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

The fourth and final bout of the day was a rematch of Sunday's No. 1 singles dual between Carolina and Stanford in the semifinals of the team championship. On that day, No. 24 Michaela Gordon got the best of UNC's fifth seeded and No. 5 ranked Makenna Jones in three sets.

On Monday, the match again went to Gordon by a 6-2, 6-1, margin. Jones completes her third season in Chapel Hill with a 26-10 overall mark and earns All-America status as the fifth seed in the singles event.

The three advancing players move on to Tuesday's Round of 32 matches that are all scheduled to be televised on Tennis Channel starting at 4 p.m. ET. Additionally, doubles gets underway with No. 2 seed Jessie Aney and Graham facing off with Stanford's No. 29 ranked duo of Emily Arbuthnott and Gordon, while No. 12 Jones and Morra get LSU's Jessica Golovin and Eden Richardson. Both doubles matches are scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.

NCAA Singles Championship
First Round - May 20, 2019
[7] #7 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. #49 Ellie Douglas (TCU) 6-2, 5-7, 7-5
#46 Cameron Morra (UNC) def. #34 Silvia Ambrosio (Purdue), 0-6, 6-2, 6-0
#20 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. [3] #3 Kate Fahey (MICH) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

#24 Michaela Gordon (STAN) def. [5] #5 Makenna Jones (UNC) 6-2, 6-1

Second Round - May 21, 2019
[7] #7 Alexa Graham (UNC) vs. #37 Ashley Lahey (Pepp), 4 p.m. (TV)
#46 Cameron Morra (UNC) vs. [9-16] #19 Marta Gonzalez (UGA), NB 6 p.m. (TV)
#20 Sara Daavettila (UNC) vs. #27 Justina Mikulskyte (Kentucky), NB 5 p.m. (TV)

NCAA Doubles Championship
First Round - May 21, 2019

[2] #2 Aney/Graham (UNC) vs. #29 Arbuthnott/Gordon (STAN), 8 p.m.
[5-8] #12 Jones/Morra (UNC) vs. #27 Golovin/Richardson (LSU), 8 p.m.

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Jessie Aney

Sara Daavettila

Alexa Graham

Makenna Jones

Cameron Morra

Related Videos