UNC’s Jamie Loeb takes NCAA women’s singles tennis title

Jamie Loeb became North Carolina’s first NCAA singles tennis champion, beating second-seeded Carol Zhao of Stanford 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 Monday. The match was switched to an indoor venue in the second set because of rain and lightning.

Loeb denied Stanford its 15th women’s singles title in this final between sophomores.

Zhao led 1-0 in the second set when play was suspended. The match was moved across the street to Baylor’s indoor facility.

Loeb held serve when play resumed to make it 1-1 in the second set and appeared to have momentum with a break for a 4-3 lead. But Zhao broke to get even, then she won the set on a double-fault by Loeb, forcing the third set that Loeb dominated.

In the men’s final, Virginia’s Ryan Shane won the NCAA singles title, rallying past Wake Forest freshman Noah Rubin 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Shane recovered after losing the match’s first five games. He was up 5-2 in the first set before play was suspended because of rain and lightning. The match also was completed at Baylor’s indoor facility.

Shane is the second Virginia player to win the title, following Somdev Devvarman in 2007-08. This was the first NCAA men’s final matching players from the same conference since 2002. Rubin is the first Wake Forest player to make the final. He won the first match at No. 1 singles last month in Virginia’s victory in the ACC tournament final.

Duke: The women’s team closed the third round very strong Monday morning moving into first place heading into the final round of stroke play at the 2015 NCAA Championship played at the 6,468-yard, par 72 Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.

Duke (894) carded its best round of the tournament with a four-over-par 292 in round three and holds a four-stroke lead over Southern California (898). Arizona (905), Tennessee (910), Baylor (910), Purdue (911), Stanford (912), Washington (914), UC Davis (915), Northwestern (916), Arkansas (919), Texas Tech (920), Wake Forest (927), Alabama (927) and UCLA (930) were the remaining 15 teams that advanced to the final stroke play round.

The Blue Devils hold the team lead after 54 holes at the NCAA Championship for the second straight year. The last four times Duke has led the NCAA Championship entering the final round, the Blue Devils have won the NCAA title (2005, 2006, 2007 and 2014).

After Monday’s fourth round, the top eight teams will advance to match play, which will kick off at 7 a.m. Tuesday.

Duke freshman Leona Maguire posted a 73 and is only two strokes behind the individual leader, Emma Talley of Alabama (216). Maguire, who is from Cavan, Ireland, has totaled rounds of 71, 74 and 73 for a 218 ledger.

Gurbani Singh, a freshman from New Delhi, India, was at two-under-par for the day heading to the 18th hole Monday morning, but she hit her drive into the water and finished with a double-bogey. Singh carded an even-par score for the third round and is tied sixth overall with a 221 through 54 holes.

Junior Celine Boutier posted an even-par score of 72 and is tied 21st overall with a 225. Sophomore Sandy Choi had a 75 in the third round and is tied 45th, while freshman Lisa Maguire is tied 129th with a 256. News Release

This story was originally published May 25, 2015 at 8:28 PM with the headline "UNC’s Jamie Loeb takes NCAA women’s singles tennis title."