No. 3 Texas upsets No. 1 North Carolina, heads back to NCAA championship
May 21, 2022
Heading into the national semifinals, No. 3 Texas was on a 10-match win streak that included wins over No. 18 Michigan and No. 14 Auburn in the second and third rounds respectively. Then, the Longhorns booked their spot in the Final Four with a win over No. 5 Virginia this past Friday.
A mere 24 hours later, Texas was slated to face off against No. 1 North Carolina. The Tar Heels boasted a 28-2 record on the year and have been the top team in the country since Feb. 16, but Texas head coach Howard Joffe’s Longhorns had their eyes on an upset and finished the job to reach their second consecutive national championship match.
Within minutes, it was clear that the Longhorns came ready to play. At line 1, sophomore Peyton Stearns and freshman Allura Zamarripa broke serve immediately, following up with a hold and an early 2-0 lead. Sophomores Charlotte Chavatipon and Kylie Collins followed suit at line 2, also getting out to an early lead.
Chavatipon and Collins didn’t stop there. The pair flew through the set, winning 6-1. Yet, Stearns and Zamarripa’s early lead didn’t hold up, as North Carolina quickly brought it back even at 2-2. Texas didn’t take too kindly to that and won four of the next five games to take the set, including a hold of serve after being down 30-40 and a brilliant poach shot from Zamarripa to put the nail in the coffin.
After a master class at doubles, the Longhorns had the lead and looked to carry that momentum into singles play.
No. 2 Stearns did exactly that. The sophomore phenom didn’t skip a beat as she won the first set 6-2, breaking No. 5 Cameron Morra three times.
At line 2, No. 49 Collins played her way to a 5-2 lead. After missing a couple of opportunities to close out the set, she was able to break her way to a first set win, 6-3.
The only other Longhorn to win her first set was No. 93-ranked freshman Sabina Zeynalova, who took it 6-3.
With all but two first sets completed, weather forced the teams to relocate to indoor courts. The delay acted as a reset for the Tar Heels, who were falling behind at a rapid pace.
Indoors, with all the first sets finished, the Longhorns and Tar Heels had each won three first sets apiece.
Chavatipon was outplayed in her first singles set, losing 6-0, but fought hard in the second. Down 4-5 and serving to stay in the match, Chavatipon found herself at deuce point. A long rally followed serve, but No. 55 Fiona Crawley outlasted her, winning a singles point for the Tar Heels and tying things up at 1-1.
Zeynalova wouldn’t allow a tie for long, however. Seconds after the Tar Heels evened the score, the freshman put the Longhorns back in front, winning both sets 6-3.
After winning the first set with ease, Stearns found herself in a much tighter set. Morra picked up her game and went back-and-forth with Stearns but squandered two set points. The two went to a tiebreaker where Morra once again had a set point on her serve, but Stearns fought it off yet again. Finally, after not being able to capitalize on a couple of match points, Stearns won the set 7-6 (9) and put Texas ahead 3-1.
Meanwhile at line 6, North Carolina’s Anika Yarlagadda put together a straight-set win over freshman Vivian Ovrootsky, inching one step closer to completing the comeback, 3-2.
Back at line 2, Collins was on serve at 3-2 in the second set. No. 30 Elizabeth Scotty hit a weak second serve, leaving the door open for Collins to rip a backhand cross-court to go up 4-2. Collins would go up 5-3 with a chance to get another point for the Longhorns and clinch the match, but didn’t win another game in the set, dropping it 7-5.
Zamarripa had lost the first set in a tiebreaker at line 5 but quietly fought her way back into the match. She took the second set 6-3, forcing a deciding third set. Most eyes were on Collins to deliver Texas its final point, but it was Zamarripa who broke serve at 6-5 in the final set to send the Longhorns back to the NCAA championship.
The Longhorns will await the winner of the second semifinal match between their Big 12 rival in No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 4 Duke. Texas’ national title defense will face its final test Sunday night in Champaign, Illinois.
