Both of Friday’s NCAA Doubles Finals needed extra time to crown a champion and it was just a few points here and there that decided each match.

Makenna Jones and Elizabeth Scotty became North Carolina’s second NCAA Women’s Doubles Champion after defeating Texas’s Lulu Sun and Kylie Collins 7-6(3), 4-6, 10-8. The UNC duo rallied from a 3-0 first-set deficit to take the opening set in a tiebreak. After Sun and Collins won the final three games of the second set to take it 6-4, the match would be decided in a 10-point supertiebreak. The tiebreak teetered back and forth with Sun and Collins just two points away from a win at 8-7* however Jones and Scotty would win the final 3 points to close it out 10-8.

Jones and Scotty, who played primarily at No. 2 doubles during the season, finished with an 18-2 doubles record. They join Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long as UNC’s NCAA Doubles Champions with Anundsen and Long winning the title in 2007. Jones and Scotty are the third ACC team to win the title with the other not previously mentioned being Miami’s Lise Gregory and Ronni Reis who win the title in 1986.

Sun and Collins (both freshman), who played exclusively at No. 1 doubles during the season, finished with a 26-5 record.

• [4] Makenna Jones/Elizabeth Scotty, North Carolina def. Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun, Texas 7-6(3), 4-6, 10-8
  • Match Time: 1 hour 42 minutes
  • First Set: Texas jumped out to a 3-0* lead but UNC won the next 3 to even it at 3-3; the teams exchanged holds until the tiebreak; Texas won the first 2 points of the TB but UNC took the next 5 to go ahead 5-2*; Texas won the next point to make it 5-3* but UNC took the final 2.
  • Second Set: There were 3 straight breaks to start the set with Texas getting 2 of them; Sun held for 3-1 then UNC held, broke Collins from 15/40, and held for 4-3*; Texas came back to take the next 3 games with Collins holding from 40/30 to close out the set
  • Third Set Supertiebreak: Texas went ahead 2-0* but UNC won the next 3 to go ahead 3-2*; UNC went ahead *5-3 but Texas tied it at 5-5; UNC edged in front *7-5 but Texas answered with 3 straight to take a 8-7* lead; UNC final the 3 to win it 10-8
  • Deciding Points: 6 – Texas won 4
  • Best Prior Results for UNC at NCAAs: Sara Anundsen/Jenna Long (2007 Champ); Daavettila/Sanford (2018 Semifinalist); Hayley Carter/Whitney Kay (2016 Semifinalist)

Path to the Championship

• [4] Makenna Jones/Elizabeth Scotty, North Carolina
  • def. Ava Hrastar/Gia Cohen, Georgia Tech 3-6, 6-3, 14-12 in R32 (fought off 4 MPs)
  • def. Katarina Kozarov/Julia Adams, Furman 2-6, 7-6(2), 11-9 in R16 (fought off 1 MP)
  • def. Sofia Munera/Natasha Subhash, Virginia 6-3, 6-3 in QF
  • def. Alana Smith/Anna Rogers, NC State 6-3, 6-4 in SF
  • def. Kylie Collins/Lulu Sun, Texas 7-6(3), 4-6, 10-8 in F

Tennessee’s Adam Walton and Pat Harper became the school’s third NCAA Men’s Doubles Champion after the duo from Australia fought off two match points to defeat Auburn’s Finn Murgett and Tad Maclean 7-6(5), 2-6, 13-11.

Walton and Harper came back from 3-0 down in the opening set and fought off three set points while Harper served at 4-5 (15/40). In the opening set tiebreak Tennessee broke a 5-5 tie to win it 7-5. Auburn’s Finn Murgett and Tad Maclean rolled through the second set to set up the winner-takes-all third set supertiebreak.

Murgett and Maclean had championship points at *9-8 and 10-9* in the tiebreak but Tennessee came back to win 13-11 with a little bit of controversy on the final point. Harper hit a low volley for a winner but the ball didn’t come off the racquet very cleanly. It seemed that Auburn was arguing that it was a double hit but the call stood and Walton and Harper were the champs. The video highlights below show the final point at the 2:45 mark.

Walton and Harper finished the season with a 31-7 record including a 19-6 dual-match record with all starts at No. 1. Maclean and Murgett finished the season with a 20-14 record including 15-11 in dual-match play at No. 1 doubles.

• [3] Adam Walton/Pat Harper, Tennessee, def. Finn Murgett/Tad Maclean, Auburn 7-6(5), 2-6, 13-11
  • Match Time: 1 hour 47 minutes
  • First Set: Auburn jumped out to a 3-0* lead after winning a pair of deciding points but Tennessee won the next 3 games, with one of the holds coming on a deciding point, to even it at 3-3; after an exchange of holds Murgett held at love to put Auburn in front 5-4; Auburn had 3 set points when Tennessee was serving 4-5 (15/40) but Harper came back to hold for 5-5; Maclean came back from 15/40 to hold for 6-5 then Harper held at love to send it to a tiebreak; Tennessee led 5-2* but Auburn came back to tie it at 5-5; Tennessee took the next 2 points to take it 7-5
  • Second Set: Auburn broke Walton’s service twice (deciding point on 1-1 game & 30/40 on 2-4 game) and then Maclean served out the set at love
  • Third Set Supertiebreak: The teams alternated the first 8 points then Auburn went up a mini-break at 5-4 after a nice service return winner by Maclean; Harper evened it at 5-5 with a volley winner then a few points later Tennessee would go in front 7-6* after another Harper volley winner; Auburn won the next 2 points on Murgett’s serve to go up 8-7* but then Murgett just missed a forehand wide to make it 8-8; Maclean hit a return winner to give Auburn a match point with Maclean to serve at 9-8; Murgett hit an overhead from fairly close to the net but Tennessee used some quick hands to get it back and ended up winning the point to even it at 9-9; Maclean hit a service winner to give Auburn another match point at 10-9 but on the next point he’d hit a forehand chip into the net to make it 10-10; Tennessee went ahead 11-10* after Maclean put a forehand into the net but Auburn fought off the match point when Maclean put a volley away at the net; Tennessee went ahead 12-11 after Maclean’s volley found the net and then Tennessee won it on the next point after Harper hit a volley winner; the ball came off Harper’s racquet kind of strangely (2:45 mark of the video highlights below) and it appeared Auburn thought it was a double hit of some kind however the chair confirmed the call of a good shot and that was the match.
  • Deciding Points: 10 – Auburn won 7
  • Best Prior Results for UT at NCAAs: Mikelis Libietis/Hunter Reese (2014 Champ), Davey Sandgren/JP Smith (2010 & 2009 Finalist); Rodney Harmon/Mel Purcell (1980 Champ); Andy Kohlberg/Michael Fancutt (1979 Finalist)

Path to the Championship

• [3] Adam Walton/Pat Harper, Tennessee
  • def. Sean Sculley/Garrett Johns, Duke 6-0, 6-4 in R32
  • def. Marcus McDaniel/Andres Martin, Georgia Tech 7-6(3), 6-2 in R16
  • def. Loïc Cloes/Clément Marzol, South Alabama 6-4, 6-2 in QF
  • def. [5-8] Sven Lah/Constantin Frantzen, Baylor 7-5, 6-4 in SF
  • def. Finn Murgett/Tad Maclean, Auburn, 7-6(5), 2-6, 13-11 in F