Tar Heels Host Cowgirls In NCAA Super Regional

CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina and Oklahoma State will square off in an NCAA Women's Tennis Super Regional dual match on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. from Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The Tar Heels are the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Team Championship, while the Cowgirls are the No. 15 seed.

The winner advances to Orlando, Florida, where the eight advancing teams among the Super Regional sites - the Elite Eight - will do battle May 17-19 at the USTA National Campus.

TICKETS
Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased in advance online at goheels.com or in person at Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center starting one hour prior to the match. Only cash will be accepted on site Saturday afternoon.

HOW WE GOT HERE
Top ranked North Carolina held serve last weekend in the NCAA Regionals with consecutive 4-0 wins over South Carolina State and No. 32 Oklahoma in the opening two rounds.

15th ranked Oklahoma State had no trouble in its first round match with Central Arkansas, winning 4-0. The second round was a completely different story against ACC foe No. 19 Miami. Marina Guinart clinched the dual in dramatic fashion when she defeated the Canes' Yuna Ita on court three for the narrow 4-3 win.

Saturday will be the first meeting between the two programs in the NCAA Team Championship and only the fourth all-time.

FAMILIAR FOES
Defending champion North Carolina showed why it was selected as the No. 2 seed in the 2019 ITA National Women's Tennis Team Indoor Championship with a 4-0 shutout of No. 9 Oklahoma State in a first-round match from Nordstrom Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Washington on Feb. 8, 2019.

Singles was played first in attempt to beat a snowstorm that blanketed Seattle that weekend. Sara Daavettila, Makenna Jones and Jessie Aney, who clinched the win, were victorious for the Tar Heels.

Team Capsules

North Carolina (GoHeels.com)
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
National Seed: No. 2
Team Ranking: No. 1
Singles/Doubles Rankings: Makenna Jones (5), Alexa Graham (7), Sara Daavettila (20), Cameron Morra (46); Aney/Graham (2), Jones/Morra (12).
Record: 31-1, 14-0 ACC
Bid: Automatic (ACC champion)

North Carolina is making its 21st successive appearance in the NCAA Team Championship and 16th in a row under the leadership of head coach Brian Kalbas. The four-time reigning ACC champions own a 46-20 mark in NCAA competition, and have advanced beyond the regionals every season since 2010 and 15 times overall. Carolina has made eight appearances in the quarterfinals, most recently in 2017.

Makenna Jones (No. 5 seed), Alexa Graham (No. 7 seed), Sara Daavettila and Cameron Morra will compete in the NCAA Singles Championship, while Aney and Graham (No. 2 seed) and Jones and Morra (5-8 seed) will do battle in the NCAA Doubles Championship upon conclusion of the team championship.

By virtue of earning a national seed, Aney, Graham, Jones and Morra have already earned All-America status for the 2018-19 season.

Oklahoma State (okstate.com)
Location: Stillwater, Okla.
National Seed: No. 15
Team Ranking: No. 15
Singles/Doubles Rankings: Katie Stresnakova (25); Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (94), Marina Guinart (96); Sofia Blanco/Catherine Gulihur (31), Lisa Marie Rioux/Sofia Blanco (87)
Record: 21-7, 8-1 Big 12
Bid: At-Large (Big 12)

OSU makes its fourth Round of 16 appearance in the last five seasons, and has made the NCAA field each of the last seven years overall. Katarina Stresnakova, Sofia Blanco and Catherine Gulihur were selected to compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. Stresnakova was selected for singles play as one of 49 at-large bids, and doubles tandem Blanco and Gulihur also received an at-large bid.

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Players Mentioned

Jessie Aney

Sara Daavettila

Alexa Graham

Makenna Jones

Cameron Morra