The 49ers will face the winner of No. 1 overall seed Georgia and Alabama State in Sunday’s second round.
A heightened level of pressure hardly fazed Charlotte, as Yelyzaveta Chainykova sealed the match with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court six.
“This is a special moment for our program — I’d like to thank all of the people who have trusted our process and committed to the hard work which has led to this milestone,” head coach Anthony Davison said. “Thanks to everyone who has supported us on this path. We can’t wait to throw ourselves in to round two tomorrow for all of those people.”
Sara Suchankova and Ni Xi, the ITA’s No. 41 doubles pair, opened play following an hour-and-a-half delay and quickly set the tone with a 6-1 win on court one. Prisca Abbas and Chainykova followed with a victory on court three to clinch the doubles point, leaving Shona Nakano and Andrea Chacon’s match unfinished at No. 2.
Nakano carried that momentum into singles play, cruising to a 6-0 first-set win on court three over Elon’s Mariana Reding.
Suchankova added a 6-2 opening set soon after, as Charlotte claimed first sets on all six courts, capped by Chainykova’s 6-4 edge on court six.
Suchankova became the first to finish, earning a 6-2, 6-2 win on court two over Elon’s Simone Bergeron for her team-leading 17th victory of the season.
Nakano, after trailing in the second set, rallied to secure a 6-0, 7-5 win on court three, pushing Charlotte to the brink of the sweep.
Chainykova closed it out on the final court, securing the historic win as the remaining matches went unfinished in their respective third sets.
