The ITA Kickoff Weekend started off with a bang for No. 8 NC State women’s tennis as it cooked Rice in the semifinal matchup 4-2 and improved to 7-0 on the season.

The nation’s No. 1 duo in senior Anna Rogers and sophomore Alana Smith made quick work of Michaela Haet and Linda Huang 6-2. Then, junior Jaeda Daniel and senior Adriana Reami, ranked No. 22 in the country, made quick work of the No. 37 pairing of Anastasia Smirnova and Priya Niezgoda in a similar fashion, 6-2. The doubles match between Wolfpack juniors Lexi Keberle and Lexi Norman and Rice’s Maria Budin and Diae El Jardi was stopped at 4-3 in favor of Rice. .

Starting off singles play was No. 23 Reami, who took care of Priya Niezgoda 6-2, 6-3 to give the Wolfpack an early lead in singles play. Rice rebounded with Maria Budin beating Liz Norman 6-4, 6-3. NC State would briefly take the lead in points with No. 31 Smith defeating Michaela Haet 6-1, 6-4, but Rice’s Linda Huang answered by taking down Lexi Keberle 6-2, 2-6, 7-6. It was Jaeda Daniel who delivered the decisive blow, edging Anna Bowtell 6-7, 7-6, 6-3. No. 18 Rogers’ match with Victoria Smirnova was left unfinished at 6-7, 6-3, 6-6. 

The Wolfpack will be playing tomorrow on Sunday at 1 p.m. against No. 21 Florida at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center and will hope to finish the weekend at 8-0. More importantly, the Wolfpack hopes to beat Florida in hopes of springboarding into the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Chicago this February.