This past weekend was about the young women who make Carolina great in so many ways, particularly on the fields and courts.
On Friday, the tennis Tar Heels defeated N.C. State for the third time this season, and this one was tougher than beating the Wolfpack in the regular season and the ACC tournament semifinals. It sends them to the NCAA quarterfinals in Waco, Texas, Thursday to take on LSU and another step toward winning the national championship as they did in 2023.
Carolina lost the doubles point, which is important in the best-of-seven scoring system. The Wolfpack only needed three singles points, while the Heels had to win four of the six matches, which is always a challenge.
Reese Brantmeier and Theadora Rabman won in straight sets. So did Carson Tanguilig. But Tatum Evans and Alanis Hamilton dropped their first sets, and with the Pack leading in the three other singles, the rival capacity crowd at Chewning Tennis Center turned full-throated in their support of the decisive matches. Hamilton lost the first set and trailed in the second before rallying to win the tiebreaker and third set, as UNC survived 4-2.
“It’s tough when you lose the doubles point, especially the way we lost it,” said Carolina head coach Brian Kalbas. “We had had match point, we were playing well, but State was playing really well, and it could have gone either way.”
As the sun was setting over the Friday Center, the spindly Hamilton finished off her opponent in the third set 6-4 as the Tar Heels advanced and stayed alive for another natty.
About 24 hours later, celebrated Mia Hamm addressed the graduates and thousands more in Kenan Stadium. Called the most marketable female athlete of her generation, the 1993 UNC graduate and most famous women’s soccer pioneer lives in California with husband, former MLB baseball star Nomar Garciaparra, and has dedicated her life to raising their twin daughters and son, using her fame from the covers of Sports Illustrated to the Wheaties box and dozens more endorsement to support numerous non-profits and the foundation she started in 1997 named for her adopted late brother.
Her speech was sincere and moving but hardly maudlin.
“Carolina shaped me into who I am today, mind, body, and spirit, and I am forever grateful,” she began. “A few years have passed, 30ish, since I sat where you’re sitting.
“While I can’t remember many details about that day, I do remember how much love I felt for my friends and teammates, how I already felt homesick for this place where I had lived longer than anywhere else. And I remember how proud I felt to graduate from the first public university in America, an institution dedicated to service producing both world- changing research and some of the greatest athletes in the history of sport.
“So, yes, a lot has changed since I was a student, we’ve got a couple trophies and banners, but here’s something that has not changed, and I believe never will. Carolina is still the greatest women’s soccer program in history. Congratulations, Tar Heels, on your 23rd national championship. I played some of the most exciting soccer of my life on some of the best teams I have ever encountered. We won four national championships when I was here and each was incredible, but one stands out, 1992. We were playing that team eight miles down the road.
“They scored first. We kind of took that personally and then we proceeded to score not one, not two, but nine goals. It was a scoring record for an NCAA final complete domination,” continued Hamm who owns a plethora of World Cup and Olympic medals.
“When my friends and I get together, we talk about the kids who came to our games with our numbers painted on their faces. And when we talk about amazing goals we scored, we don’t really talk about the goals themselves. We talk about the moment after when we leapt into a joyful pile of celebration.
“Members of the class of 2025, I hope that you’ll achieve every goal you set for yourselves, that your lives will be full of happiness and meaning. You have so much to give and show this world. I also hope you will savor all those moments in the middle that you won’t be so intent on what comes next that you miss the growth and connection happening right now.
“My hope is you’ll belong to many outstanding teams in your lives. You will make them better through your talent and your integrity and always and forever. You’ll be a part of our team, graduates of the University of North Carolina, for this is our university, the University of the People, and from the first day you stepped on this campus until your last breath, you will always have a home here. Congratulations. Class of 2025 today, like every day, is a great day to be at Tar Heel. Thank you.”
Hamm also gave shout-outs to two old friends and coaches who had new UNC graduate children walk in the procession, teammate Carla Werden Overbeck and Jenny Levy, the first and 30-year coach of the UNC women’s lacrosse team. A little more than 12 hours later, Levy’s top-ranked and undefeated Tar Heels crushed Clemson in their second-round NCAA game on Dorrance Field, named for the Hall of Fame coach who won 22 of those 23 national championships. Levy’s program is favored to reach its 14th Final Four, sixth NCAA championship game and fourth title.
Her team is loaded, includes three sisters, Ashley, Chloe and Nicole Humphrey, and a host of veterans and newcomers who could leave Levy in the top ten for a long time.
UNC reporter Shelby Swanson (who was sports editor of the Daily Tar Heel and now a correspondent for News & Observer) pens a superb story on the Humphrey young women and a family’s support of their athletic journey. It is an absolutely must read and encapsulates another grand graduation weekend in Chapel Hill.
To paraphrase what Hamm said, “Three great days to be a Tar Heel.”
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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