UNC Women Face Rising Pressure At ITA All-Americans

Deck: The Tar Heels show resilience at the ITA All-American Championships as Khirin shines in singles and Zampardo/Maltby advance in doubles.

Carolina women’s tennis kept moving through the ITA All-American Championships on Thursday, and Nicole Khirin delivered the day’s lone singles victory for the Tar Heels.

The graduate came through with a ranked win, knocking off No. 16 Anastasiia Grechkina of Pepperdine in straight sets. That result sends Khirin into the round of 16 in the Main Draw.

UNC also stayed alive in doubles behind No. 8 Zampardo/Maltby, who continued their strong run with a win over No.

43 Yakoff/Karra of Harvard. The Tar Heel pair moves on to the quarterfinals in the Main Draw and remains the only Carolina duo left in the winner’s bracket.

In the consolation bracket, Rabman/Manning picked up a ranked win of their own against Wichita State. After dropping the first set, the Tar Heels answered by taking the second and third-set tiebreaks to finish the comeback.

Elsewhere in singles, Anna Frey fell to No. 3 Luciana Perry of Ohio State, Tatum Evans was beaten by No.

39 Nao Nishino of Ohio State, and Alexis Nguyen dropped a three-set match to No. 37 Sophia Cisse-Ignatiev of Ohio State.

In doubles, No. 31 Sauvant/Grechkina of Pepperdine edged No.

15 Khirin/Evans of UNC in a tight three-set battle, while Warren/Murphy of Furman defeated No. 14 Frey/Hamilton.

The ITA All-American Championships, now in its 43rd year, bring together the country’s top college tennis players and offer a path to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. Ten singles players will qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship, with eight main draw quarterfinalists and two feed-in consolation finalists earning spots. Five doubles teams will advance to the NCAA Doubles Championship through the event, including four main draw semifinalists and the consolation champion.

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