Reese Brantmeier from the Carolina women’s tennis program claimed the 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Single National Title Sunday afternoon in Orlando, Florida, with a two-set victory (6-3, 6-3) against Passola Folch of Cal. Brantmeier joins Jamie Loeb as the second Tar Heel in program history to win the competition.

The journey to the title

Brantmeier headed into the 2025 NCAA Singles Championships as a nos. 9-16 seed set to face Bridget Stammel from Vanderbilt in the first round. The senior took a convincing 6-1 win in the first set before dropping the second, 6-4. Brantmeier and Stammel headed into a deciding third set where the Tar Heel narrowly avoided the upset by taking the set, 7-5.

In the second round of the tournament, Brantmeier faced an ACC opponent in Sophie Llewellyn from SMU. Brantmeier once again opened with a dominant first set before dropping the second. Brantmeier regrouped to finish strong in the third set, winning 6-2. With her second-round win, Brantmeier earned All-America honors for the seventh time in her career.

Brantmeier headed into the third round of singles play on Thursday against Ava Esposito from Auburn and yet again battled to claim the victory in three sets (6-2, 3-6, 6-1).

In the biggest matchup of the tournament to that point for Brantmeier, the Tar Heel faced second-seeded Carmen Andreea Herea from Texas in the quarterfinals. Brantmeier jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set before Herea worked her way back in to even the score at 5-5. The opponents would continue battling to force a tiebreaker to decide the first set, which Brantmeier eventually won, 10-8. The Whitewater, Wisconsin, native capitalized on the momentum to win the second set in dominant fashion, 6-0.

In the semifinals, Brantmeier competed against Jana Hossam Salah from USC. The semifinal matchup was another display of grit from the senior. Brantmeier and Hossam Salah split the first two sets, sending the match into a third. The Tar Heel stormed back after dropping the second to win the third, 6-2, clinching her spot in the finals. With the semifinal win, Brantmeier also qualified for the U.S. Open Singles Playoff next summer.

On Sunday against Folch, Brantmeier worked through the first set before pulling away late to take it, 6-3. In similar fashion, the second set was back and forth before Brantmeier pulled away for another 6-3 victory to seal the deal and earn the national champion.

Career accolades

Brantmeier has had a standout career at Carolina. She and the rest of the Tar Heelteam will look to put together a strong 2026 campaign after reaching the Final Four last season in the team competition.

The 2025 Singles National Championship is another accolade Brantmeier can add to her decorated resume:

2025 NCAA Division I Singles National Champion All-America in both singles and doubles in fall of 20252025 ACC Player of the YearAll-America honors in both singles and doubles in spring of 20252025 first-team All-ACC in singles and doubles2025 ACC Championship Most Valuable Player2025 Academic All-America of the Year2025 NCAA Elite 90 Award2024 All-America2024 first-team All-ACC in both singles and doublesFall 2023 ITA Singles and doubles titleACC Academic Honor Roll & ITA Scholar-AthleteMember of the 2023 NCAA national championship team2023 ITA All-America2023 NCAA All-Tournament Team2023 NCAA Doubles National Runners-Up with Elizabeth Scotty2023 first-team All-ACC in both singles and doubles2023 Academic All-ACC