Another national championship victory is coming to Chapel Hill — but this time, from a first-time winner.
The North Carolina women’s tennis team won its first NCAA team championship in program history on Saturday, defeating N.C. State 4-1 at the USTA Campus in Orlando.
UNC’s title win gives the school 49 NCAA championships, and 36 across its women’s sports programs.
The Tar Heels won the doubles point with wins by the duos of Elizabeth Scotty and Carson Tanguilig, and Reese Brantmeier and Reilly Tran. The team then notched three singles points with victories by Scotty, Tanguilig and Fiona Crawley.
It was Tanguilig who ultimately clinched the title, winning against Amelia Rajecki to give UNC the fourth point it needed.
The team’s social media account posted many photos and videos of celebration, from players taking photos with the trophy to the Powerade bath they gave to UNC head coach Brian Kalbas.
North Carolina defeated N.C. State 7-0 during the regular season, but lost to the Wolfpack in the ACC Championship game last month in Cary.
The team defeated Texas and Georgia earlier in the week in Orlando to advance to the championship game. Prior to that, it defeated Charleston Southern and Old Dominion during the Regional round, and Florida in the Super Regional. Each of those games were played in Chapel Hill.
UNC’s women’s tennis team was congratulated on social media by the football team, volleyball team, women’s basketball team and others following the win.
North Carolina finishes the season with a 35-1 record, which includes a 13-0 conference record.
Kalbas is in his 20th season with the team. He is the 14th head coach in school history to win a national title. Kalbas previously coached at William & Mary.
He has coached UNC to seven ITA Indoor National Championships and six ACC championships. He was named national coach of the year in 1998 and 2010.
Kalbas won his 500th game at UNC back in January, and has 746 wins overall. At 532 victories with North Carolina, he is the winningest coach in program history. He is also one of four coaches in women’s tennis to win 700 games.
Kalbas previously coached UNC to the NCAA Championship game in 2014, but lost to UCLA. North Carolina also had semifinal finishes in 2010, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
UNC has one NCAA singles championship win in its team history, with Jamie Loeb winning in 2015. It also has two doubles championships with Jenna Long and Sara Anundsen winning in 2007 and Scotty and Makenna Jones winning in 2021.
This year’s singles and doubles championships will also take place in Orlando, beginning on Monday and running through Saturday.
