Then, it fizzled until there was nothing left.
Tanguilig was the first to fall, 6-3, 6-0.
Many of her returns smacked into the tape at the top of the net. Other times, she struggled to keep her groundstrokes in between the lines.
She threw her hands up in frustration after missed shots. She grimaced at the back wall as she retrieved her towel in between points.
“Lost a lot of [deuce] points, lost a lot of close games, lost a lot of leads and games,” Kalbas said. “[Duke] played every point the same, and we played, at times, tentative, not to lose.”
Then, Hamilton and sophomore Thea Rabman went down in straight sets.
On court four, sophomore Tatum Evans forced a third set, bouncing back from losing in the first. With Brantmeier winning her match 6-3, 6-3, and two players still on court battling, maybe North Carolina could still scrape by. Maybe the Tar Heels could overcome the momentum shift.
UNC senior Carson Tanguilig strikes the ball against Duke Tennis at Chewning Tennis Courts on March 26, 2025. UNC fell 2-4.
But first-year Claire Hill was fighting an uphill battle. Falling in her first set 6-4, she let Duke’s Ellie Coleman build an immediate two-game lead in the second.
“[Coleman] plays really good defense,” Kalbas said. “And then once you think that she’s just a defensive player and you lead the ball short, she can hurt you.”
Despite cutting the score to down 5-3 — playing more decisively and clear-headed — it wasn’t enough. Hill couldn’t escape the hole and dropped the next game.
Coleman laid down her racket and screamed. Duke’s team rushed the court and jumped. Hill could only stare.
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“It sucks to lose to Duke,” Tanguilig said, before later adding, “That’s potentially one of the last times I’ll play them, I [will] never take that for granted.”
Huddled together on the court after Duke’s final point lit up the scoreboard, the Tar Heels put their arms around each other. Kalbas told his team to let it roll off their shoulders.
It wasn’t the NCAA tournament or the ACC tournament. He instructed them to take care of the little things, starting with positive energy. Not getting down when things begin to not go their way. Not letting up. Competing the entire time.
Focus on those little things, and bigger things will come.
“It’s just one match,” Kalbas said. “So I’m not disappointed at all.”
@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com
Caroline Wills is the 2024-25 sports editor. Previously, she served as a senior writer on the sports desk, primarily covering women’s tennis, field hockey, and women’s basketball.
