NCAA Elite 8: No. 1 UNC Faces No. 8 Pepperdine

CHAPEL HILL - Top seed North Carolina and No. 8 seed Pepperdine will meet in the quarterfinals of the 2022 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship on Friday from the University of Illinois' Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex. First serve has been moved up to 11 a.m. EDT due to expected high winds in the area.

The match will be streamed live on the TennisONE app.

SUPER REGIONALS ROUNDUP
Carolina posted its third successive 4-0 victory in the 2022 NCAA Championships. The Tar Heels knocked out visiting No. 16 seed Florida last Friday at Cary Tennis Park.

Pepperdine held serve on its home court by recording a 4-0 shutout of No. 9 seed Miami last Friday in Malibu, Calif.

SERIES HISTORY
UNC owns a 3-1 edge in four meetings with Pepperdine. The Tar Heels visited the Waves on March 11, 2004 and came away with a 4-3 victory. The two programs met twice at the ITA Team Indoor National Championship in recent years with Carolina knocking off Pepperdine, 4-1, in the 2021 semifinals and 4-2 in the 2018 national championship match in Madison, Wisconsin.

North Carolina and Pepperdine hooked up in the 2021 NCAA Championship semifinals in Orlando. The Tar Heels had its ACC record 48-match winning streak snapped with a 4-3 loss to the Waves.

TICKET/FAN INFO
Tickets are available online at tickets.fightingillini.com or at the ticket trailer located near the main entrance each day of play.

PARKING
Parking is free for the duration of the championships. Parking is available in the paved lot adjacent to the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex entrance. Entry to that lot is from S. Goodwin Ave, east of the courts. If that main parking lot reaches capacity, there is an additional paved lot further east of the Tennis Complex, with entry from Florida Ave. It is approximately a 5-minute walk from that further Florida Ave. lot to the courts.

Team Capsules

North Carolina (goheels.com)
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Ranking: No. 1
Seed: No. 1
Singles/Doubles Rankings: Cameron Morra (5), Elizabeth Scotty (30), Reilly Tran (35), Carson Tanguilig (51), Fiona Crawley (55); Crawley/Scotty (2)
Record: 27-2, 12-1 ACC
Bid: At-large

North Carolina earned a national seed in the team championship for the 18th time in 19 seasons under the direction of head coach Brian Kalbas. Carolina is making its 23rd consecutive appearance in the national tournament and 18th in a row under Kalbas. As a reminder, the 2020 NCAA Championship was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tar Heels own an all-time NCAA record of 55-22 and have advanced to the Elite 8 for the 11th time in program history, all coming since 2002. Additionally, UNC has reached the semifinals on four previous occasions in 2010, 2014, 2019 and 2021.

No. 5 seed Cameron Morra heads up a group of five players that will compete at the NCAA Singles Championship. Fiona Crawley, Elizabeth Scotty, Reilly Tran and Carson Tanguilig all received at-large bids.

Crawley and Scotty are the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Doubles Championship, while Morra and Tanguilig are alternates in the doubles field.

Pepperdine Waves (pepperdinewaves.com)
Location: Malibu, California
Ranking: No. 8
Seed: No. 8
Singles/Doubles Rankings: Shiori Fukuda (15), Lisa Zaar (27); Taisiya Pachkaleva (40), Victoria Flores (59), Savannah Broads (85), Janice Tjen (91), Nikki Redelijk (121); Tjen/Broadus (42), Zaar/Flores (45).
Record: 23-6, 7-0 WCC
Bid: Automatic (WCC champion)

Pepperdine is making its 37th appearance in the NCAA Championship and has reached the quarterfinals for the eighth time, including five of the last six tournaments. The Waves earned an automatic bid into the championship after capturing its eighth consecutive West Coast Conference title. Last season, Pepperdine reached the NCAA national championship match for the first time and fell to Texas, 4-3.

Shiori Fukuda was named WCC Player of the Year, while Savannah Broadus earned the league's freshman of the year award. Lisa Zaar and Janice Tjen were first team selections, while the doubles pairs of Victoria Flores and Zaar and Broadus and Tjen also landed on the first team.

Flores, Fukuda, Zaar, and Taisiya Pachkaleva will compete at the NCAA Singles Championship, while Broadus and Tjen will participate in doubles.

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Players Mentioned

Fiona Crawley

Cameron Morra

Elizabeth Scotty

Carson Tanguilig

Reilly Tran

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University of North Carolina Athletics