Top Moments Of 2019-20: No. 1

We return to our countdown of the top moments of the shortened 2019-20 North Carolina women's tennis season. When Carolina Athletics canceled all spring competitions in accordance with the ACC's decision on March 17 due to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNC was in the midst of putting together perhaps the best season in program history. The Tar Heels were No. 1 in the national polls with a perfect 18-0 record, had already won team and singles ITA National Championships and sat atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings. Please continue to visit GoHeels.com as we look back on the amazing accomplishments head coach Brian Kalbas and his program enjoyed this past season.

This week we take a deep dive into the program's history of its national rankings and more specifically its more recent run as the No. 1 team in the nation over the last 10 seasons.

In 2020, the Tar Heels began the season second in the national poll and held steady there for the month of January, before taking over the top spot in the country after winning the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on Feb. 10. Carolina remained No. 1 for the remainder of the five ranking periods before the season was cut short.

By virtue of being No. 1 on what turned out to be the final poll released by the ITA on March 10, UNC finished the season as the top ranked program for the first time ever.

Though it has become fairly common to see the Heels at the top of the sport over the last three seasons, you only have to go back a decade when UNC was in the midst of its journey to climb the mountain to No. 1.

The Tar Heels were a program on the rise in 2010. They reached the finals of ITA Indoors after knocking off then No. 1 Duke in the semifinals. The win turned out to be Carolina's first-ever over a top-ranked team.

The next day, however, the Tar Heels fell 4-2 to Northwestern, who won the title for the second year in a row. The runner-up finish was the best team result in program history at the time in a national championship event. UNC has since gone on to win four indoor national championships.

After defeating four top-10 opponents in the first month of 2010, and combined with a Northwestern loss to Notre Dame, the Tar Heels moved to No. 1 for the first time ever on Feb. 24, 2010. In what turned out to be a scheduling quirk, Carolina's first No. 1 ranking came during an off week for the team. So, it took nearly a month to actually play as the nation's top-ranked team.

UNC's first opportunity to take the court as the No. 1 team in the country came on March 23. Carolina exercised a bit of revenge by toppling No. 2 Northwestern by a 5-2 margin in Chapel Hill.

Carolina has since become a fixture at the top of the college tennis scene. The Tar Heels have been ranked #1 on 46 occasions between 2010 and 2020.

The extended success of the program is also displayed by a trio of impressive streaks that remain active today. UNC has been ranked inside the top-10 of every poll since May 2014, a run of 94 consecutive ranking periods. Additionally, the team has been in the top-5 for the last 69 polls going back to March 2016 and inside the top-3 in all 37 polls since January 2018.

The Tar Heels were selected No. 1 five times back in 2010. It took the program three seasons to get back to the top, but after winning their first indoor title in 2013, UNC spent 10 straight weeks as the top team in the land.

The 2015 squad enjoyed eight weeks at No. 1, the 2018 club set a new standard with 11 successive weeks at the top and 2019 saw seven occurrences at No. 1.

Top Moments of 2019-20 Countdown
Seven Ranked Singles Players
Comeback At Wake
Undefeated
Graham's Run To All-American Final
#BeatDuke

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