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Bears’ championship prospects disrupted by Tar Heels
Lisi Ludwig/Senior Staff
Though the Cal women’s tennis team’s Pac-12 tournament victory and five-match win streak heading into the third round of the NCAA championships seemed to foreshadow a fairy tale run for the blue and gold, their title hopes were put out by No. 1 North Carolina last weekend. The Tar Heels downed the Bears 4-0 on Sunday night at the USTA National Tennis Center in Orlando, bringing Cal’s memorable and highly successful season to a close.
Progressing past the Tar Heels promised to be a daunting task for the Bears. North Carolina entered the postseason boasting a regular-season resume that included 26 consecutive wins, an ACC Championship and an ITA Indoor Team title. The team’s championship pedigree became quickly evident in the doubles point.
STILLWATER, Oklahoma – North Carolina would not be denied in winning back-to-back ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time in program history.
Trailing 3-2 in the match, the top-seeded Tar Heels found themselves in a deep hole on the two remaining courts they had to win. As champions do, North Carolina (7-0) rallied behind wins from Fiona Crawley and Elizabeth Scotty for a remarkable 4-3 victory over No. 3 Texas on Sunday night from Oklahoma State’s Greenwood Tennis Center to record the fifth indoor national championship in the last nine seasons.
Carolina has won indoor national crowns in 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2021. Only Stanford (10) and Florida (7) have won more indoor championships.