University of North Carolina Athletics
Flawless Work By Carolina At NCAA Singles/Doubles Championships
May 21, 2019 | Women's Tennis
ORLANDO - It turned out to be a historic day for the North Carolina women's tennis program on Tuesday at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship from the USTA National Campus. Sara Daavettila, Alexa Graham and Cameron Morra all reached the Sweet 16 in singles, while doubles teams of Jessie Aney and Graham and Makenna Jones and Morra advanced to the Round of 16 as well.
Carolina is the only team to have three players remaining in the singles field, while UNC and UCLA are the lone programs to have two doubles teams remaining in the field. Round of 16 matches will take place on Wednesday on Tennis Channel at 4 p.m.
No. 7 Alexa Graham led 4-2 in her first set but was pushed to a tiebreaker as her opponent, No. 37 Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine, caught fire late in the opening set. However, an ace from Graham gave her the first set, 7-6 (4).
A somewhat less stressful second set ensued with Graham advancing to the Round of 16 by scores of 7-6 (4), 6-4. Lahey, the runner up in this event last season, began cramping up at the end of the match, and slipped to the ground on the final point of the match. Graham quickly rushed over to make sure she was okay in a nice touch of class by the Tar Heel All-American.Â
No. 20 Sara Daavettila took on senior No. 27 Justina Mikulskyte of Kentucky in a second-round match that started right around when Graham finished up her victory.
Daavettila gave away the first set, but answered right back with consecutive 6-4 set victories to notch her seventh-straight victory in NCAA postseason play. The Williamston, Michigan, native pulled out an underhand serve on the final point to secure the win.Â
The third and final singles match of the day featured Carolina freshman No. 46 Cameron Morra and Georgia's No. 19 Marta Gonzalez, a junior competing in her first NCAA singles tournament.Â
Morra, the ACC Freshman of the Year, fight and clawed her way to a 7-6 tiebreaker win in set one, and maintained that momentum into a 6-2 second-set win to reach the Sweet 16. Morra extends her singles winning streak to 12 in a row, and improves to 23-2 since the calendar turned to 2019.
Carolina's two doubles teams played deep into Tuesday night after singles play came to a close earlier in the day. First up was No. 12 Makenna Jones and Morra who were paired with LSU's Jessica Golovin and Eden Richardson, the defending national champions who won this event last year in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Jones and Morra seemed undaunted in set one by going up 5-0 and cruised to a 6-2 opening set win. They trailed for nearly all of the second set, eventually tying it at 4-4 and 5-5, but the Tigers took it 7-5. The super breaker saw UNC jump out to a 3-0 lead, extended the advantage to 6-1 and closed out the win by a 10-4 margin.
No. 2 seed Jessie Aney and Graham took on Stanford's No. 29 ranked duo of Emily Arbuthnott and Gordon. Carolina's tandem took control of the match with a 6-2 first-set win, and didn't let up in taking the match in straight sets.
NCAA Singles Championship
Round of 16 - May 22, 2019
[7] #7 Alexa Graham (UNC) vs. No. 43 Asuka Kawai (Illinois)
#46 Cameron Morra (UNC) vs. #32 Elysia Bolton (UCLA)
#20 Sara Daavettila (UNC) vs. #58 Solymar Colling (San Diego)
Second Round - May 21, 2019
[7] #7 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. #37 Ashley Lahey (Pepp) 7-6 (4), 6-4
#46 Cameron Morra (UNC) def. [9-16] #19 Marta Gonzalez (UGA) 7-6, 6-2
#20 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #27 Justina Mikulskyte (Kentucky) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
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
NCAA Doubles Championship
Second Round - May 22, 2019
[2] #2 Aney/Graham (UNC) vs.Â
[5-8] #12 Jones/Morra (UNC) vs. #26 Kuznetsova/Zeleva (UCF)
First Round - May 21, 2019
[2] #2 Aney/Graham (UNC) def. #29 Arbuthnott/Gordon (STAN) 6-2, 6-4
[5-8] #12 Jones/Morra (UNC) def. #27 Golovin/Richardson (LSU) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (4)
Carolina is the only team to have three players remaining in the singles field, while UNC and UCLA are the lone programs to have two doubles teams remaining in the field. Round of 16 matches will take place on Wednesday on Tennis Channel at 4 p.m.
No. 7 Alexa Graham led 4-2 in her first set but was pushed to a tiebreaker as her opponent, No. 37 Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine, caught fire late in the opening set. However, an ace from Graham gave her the first set, 7-6 (4).
A somewhat less stressful second set ensued with Graham advancing to the Round of 16 by scores of 7-6 (4), 6-4. Lahey, the runner up in this event last season, began cramping up at the end of the match, and slipped to the ground on the final point of the match. Graham quickly rushed over to make sure she was okay in a nice touch of class by the Tar Heel All-American.Â
No. 20 Sara Daavettila took on senior No. 27 Justina Mikulskyte of Kentucky in a second-round match that started right around when Graham finished up her victory.
Daavettila gave away the first set, but answered right back with consecutive 6-4 set victories to notch her seventh-straight victory in NCAA postseason play. The Williamston, Michigan, native pulled out an underhand serve on the final point to secure the win.Â
The third and final singles match of the day featured Carolina freshman No. 46 Cameron Morra and Georgia's No. 19 Marta Gonzalez, a junior competing in her first NCAA singles tournament.Â
Morra, the ACC Freshman of the Year, fight and clawed her way to a 7-6 tiebreaker win in set one, and maintained that momentum into a 6-2 second-set win to reach the Sweet 16. Morra extends her singles winning streak to 12 in a row, and improves to 23-2 since the calendar turned to 2019.
Carolina's two doubles teams played deep into Tuesday night after singles play came to a close earlier in the day. First up was No. 12 Makenna Jones and Morra who were paired with LSU's Jessica Golovin and Eden Richardson, the defending national champions who won this event last year in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Jones and Morra seemed undaunted in set one by going up 5-0 and cruised to a 6-2 opening set win. They trailed for nearly all of the second set, eventually tying it at 4-4 and 5-5, but the Tigers took it 7-5. The super breaker saw UNC jump out to a 3-0 lead, extended the advantage to 6-1 and closed out the win by a 10-4 margin.
No. 2 seed Jessie Aney and Graham took on Stanford's No. 29 ranked duo of Emily Arbuthnott and Gordon. Carolina's tandem took control of the match with a 6-2 first-set win, and didn't let up in taking the match in straight sets.
NCAA Singles Championship
Round of 16 - May 22, 2019
[7] #7 Alexa Graham (UNC) vs. No. 43 Asuka Kawai (Illinois)
#46 Cameron Morra (UNC) vs. #32 Elysia Bolton (UCLA)
#20 Sara Daavettila (UNC) vs. #58 Solymar Colling (San Diego)
Second Round - May 21, 2019
[7] #7 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. #37 Ashley Lahey (Pepp) 7-6 (4), 6-4
#46 Cameron Morra (UNC) def. [9-16] #19 Marta Gonzalez (UGA) 7-6, 6-2
#20 Sara Daavettila (UNC) def. #27 Justina Mikulskyte (Kentucky) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
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
NCAA Doubles Championship
Second Round - May 22, 2019
[2] #2 Aney/Graham (UNC) vs.Â
[5-8] #12 Jones/Morra (UNC) vs. #26 Kuznetsova/Zeleva (UCF)
First Round - May 21, 2019
[2] #2 Aney/Graham (UNC) def. #29 Arbuthnott/Gordon (STAN) 6-2, 6-4
[5-8] #12 Jones/Morra (UNC) def. #27 Golovin/Richardson (LSU) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (4)
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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