Carolina women's tennis captures fifth straight ACC championship

Completing a weekend in which they lived up to their billing, the top-ranked and top-seeded Carolina women’s tennis team took home another Atlantic Coast Conference title Sunday morning.

Carolina (26-0) scored a 4-1 win over sixth-seeded Georgia Tech (18-10) in the finals of the 2021 ACC Women’s Tennis Championship at Rome Tennis Center. The league championship is the fifth straight for the Tar Heels under the watch of head coach Brian Kalbas and the program’s 11th overall.

Kalbas’ six total ACC championships at Carolina rank second in league history behind Duke head coach Jamie Ashworth’s eight.

After the Carolina teams of Sara Daavettila and Cameron Morra, Elizabeth Scotty and Makenna Jones, and Alle Sanford and Reilly Tran swept three matches to take the doubles point, the Tar Heels won three of the first four completed singles matches to claim the championship.

Fiona Crawley was the first to win for Carolina in straight sets on court 6, followed by Alexa Graham at No. 3 and Scotty at No. 4.

Scotty also clinched the indoor national championship back in early February.

Crawley, who improved to 25-0 in singles in her freshman season, was named Most Valuable Player.

Carol Lee posted a straight-set victory on court No. 5 to account for Georgia Tech’s scoring.

As ACC Champion, Carolina earns the league’s automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Championship. Selections to this year’s NCAA field are scheduled to be announced May 3.

Carolina will carry a 44-match unbeaten streak into the NCAA Tournament, the longest ever in ACC women’s tennis history.