By: Matt Bowers
https://goheels.com/news/2025/5/14/womens-tennis-brantmeier-wins-ncaa-elite-90-award
University of North Carolina junior Reese Brantmeier is the recipient of the NCAA Elite 90 award for the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship, the NCAA announced today.
Brantmeier, double-majoring in exercise and sport science and studio art, currently carries a 3.956 GPA. She was presented with the award on Wednesday night in Waco, Texas.
The Whitewater, Wis., native enters Thursday NCAA quarterfinal match versus LSU ranked No. 3 in the nation in singles and No. 2 nationally in doubles with Alanis Hamilton. She was voted ACC Player of the Year and ACC Championship Most Valuable Player last month.
The Elite 90 award honors the exceptional achievements of student-athletes. This prestigious accolade is given to those who have not only excelled at a national championship level in their sport but have also achieved the highest academic standards among their peers. The Elite 90 is proudly awarded to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 90 championships.
Eligible student-athletes are sophomores or above academically who have participated in a sport for at least two years with their school. All ties are broken by the number of credits completed.
For more information on the Elite 90 award winners, go to www.ncaa.org/elite90.
From Chapelboro.com, this update on Thursday’s games:
The No. 5 Tar Heels swept the doubles competition, with Carson Tanguilig and Susanna Maltby winning 6-3 on No. 2 court, while Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton won in a tiebreaker, 7-6, on No. 1 court to clinch the doubles point in favor of UNC. Thea Rabman and Tatum Evans finished off a 7-5 win on No. 3 court as Brantmeier and Hamilton’s match was concluding.
The match took a somber turn in singles, as Brantmeier was forced to retire from her match after injuring her knee while serving and had to be helped off the court. Brantmeier missed much of the 2024 spring season with a meniscus injury in the same knee. The retirement gave LSU its first point of the match.
The rest of the Tar Heels appeared unfazed in singles, though, as Tanguilig rolled on No. 5 court with a 6-1, 6-1 win against the Tigers’ Kinaa Graham. LSU tied the match again with a win on No. 4, but straight-set victories from Claire Hill (6-4, 6-3 on No. 6) and Evans (6-1, 6-2 on No. 3) clinched the match in favor of Carolina.
With the win, UNC is now 27-4 and has won 12 straight matches. Carolina now advances to the national semifinals to face No. 1 overall seed Georgia Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern. The Tar Heels have already defeated the Bulldogs once this season, winning 4-3 in Athens on February 1.
