UNC Women’s Tennis ready for a run in the NCAAs

UNC women’s tennis wrapped the regular season with a 24-3 record, ranked 6th nationally. They came up short in the ACC championship, losing in the semi-finals. Now we await announcement of seeding and regionals for the NCAA tournament, which starts May 1.

Senior Reese Brantmeier was named ACC Player of the Year and ACC First Team, an honor she won last year as well. With two other ACC schools ranked in the top 10 and three in the top 16, the honor was hard-earned. Reese finished her final run as a Tar Heel with a 15-2 record in singles and 19-4 in doubles. She currently ranks second nationally. If you get a chance to catch Brantmeier in action in her final NCAA tournament, do so. She’s been an exceptional four-year student-athlete, the embodiment of the college athletics model ideal.

Brantmeier also notched a win over the NCAA, settling a lawsuit over prize money she won in a US Open qualifier as a junior in high school. Due to NCAA rules at the time, she was only allowed to keep $10,000 plus expenses of a $50,000 prize. The settlement sets that wrong to right and opens the door for other Olympic sport athletes to compete for prize money on the professional circuits in addition to representing their universities.

Other ACC honors went to four Tar Heels. Oby Kajuru and Tatum Evans were named to the ACC Second Team. Kajuru, a graduate student transfer from Oklahoma State, finished the season with a 17-4 record in singles and 9-2 in doubles. She ranks 17th nationally. Junior Tatum Evans joins Kajuru on the ACC Second Team with a 16-3 record in singles and and currently ranks 38th nationally.

Alanis Hamilton was named to the ACC first team for doubles along with partner Brantmeier. Susan Maltby and partner Oby Kajuru earned ACC second team in doubles. Those five Tar Heels hope to cap an excellent regular season with a deep run in the NCAA tournament. With UNC currently sitting in third place in the Learfield Director’s Cup standings, UNC women’s tennis sits in a strong position to help UNC move up in those standings.