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Talk about an exclamation point to christen a historic championship.

Abbey Forbes served an ace to clinch the fourth straight ITA Division I Women’s National Team Indoor title for the University of North Carolina on Monday at Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.

The second-seeded Tar Heels prolonged their indoor dynasty by beating unseeded Georgia 4-0 in the championship match to capture the program’s seventh National Indoor title overall. UNC is the first program in ITA National Indoor history to win four straight titles. The Tar Heels have won five titles in the last six years and seven in the last decade.

The match pitted teams with plenty of championship experience. The Tar Heels were making their 11th appearance in the National Indoor title match while Georgia was making its ninth appearance.

UNC exacted a bit of National Indoor revenge on the Bulldogs after losing to them in the 2019 final. But the Tar Heels haven’t lost since a match in the event since, rolling off four straight title runs.

The Tar Heels captured the doubles point with victories by Reese Brantmeier and Elizabeth Scotty at the No. 1 spot and Forbes and Reilly Tran at No. 3.

After Georgia’s Meg Kowalski and Mell Reasco defeated Fiona Crawley and Carson Tanguilig 6-4, Forbes and Tran beat Anastasiia Lopata and Anna Hertel 6-4 to put the teams back level. Brantmeier and Scotty outlasted Mai Nirundorn and Guillermina Grant 7-6(6) to give UNC a 1-0 lead.

Anika Yarlagadda extended the Tar Heel advantage to 2-0 by defeating Kowalski 6-1, 6-2 at No. 5 singles. Tanguilig put UNC one win away from the title by beating Reasco 7-5, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.

Fittingly, it came down to No. 4 singles to clinch the fourth straight title for UNC.

Forbes, a North Carolina native who transferred to UNC this season from UCLA as a graduate student, punctuated her win with an ace to beat Hertel 6-4, 6-1 and send the Heels into a familiar celebration.

UNC took down No. 3 Texas A&M 4-2 in the semifinals. Georgia, which was attempting to win the program’s fifth National Indoor title, beat Iowa State 4-2 in the semifinals.

Although Iowa State fell short of reaching the final, the Cyclones have opened some eyes with their historic start to the season.

Iowa State entered the event unseeded before upsetting No. 9 Vanderbilt 4-3 and No. 1 Texas 4-1 to reach the semifinals for the first time. The win over Texas was the first in program history after starting 0-26 all-time against the Longhorns, and the highest ranked win in program history.

North Carolina 4, Georgia 0

Singles

1. No. 1 Fiona Crawley (UNC) vs. No. 11 Lea Ma (Georgia) 7-6 (7-3) unfinished
2. No. 122 Reese Brantmeier (UNC) vs. No. 40 Dasha Vidmanova (Georgia) 6-3, 1-6, 1-1 unfinished
3. No. 9 Carson Tanguilig (UNC) def. No. 39 Mell ­Reasco (Georgia) 7-5, 6-0
4. No. 12 Abbey Forbes (UNC) def. Anna Hertel (Georgia) 6-4, 6-1 (Clinch)
5. No. 18 Anika Yarlagadda (UNC) def. Meg Kowalski (Georgia) 6-1, 6-2
6. No. 63 Reilly Tran (UNC) vs. Guillermina Grant (Georgia) 4-6, 3-3 unfinished

Order of completion: 5,3,4

Doubles

1. No. 32 Brantmeier/Scotty def. Grant/Nirundorn (Georgia) 7-6 (8-6) (Clinch)
2. Kowalski/Reasco (Georgia) def. No. 1 Crawley/Tanguilig (UNC) 6-4
3. Tran/Forbes (UNC) vs. Hertel/Lopata (Georgia) 6-4

Order of completion: 2,3,1

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at [email protected].