The No. 8 NC State women’s tennis team continued its perfect start to its 2020 dual season with dominant wins over in-state foes Appalachian State and East Carolina, 6-1 and 7-0.
The Wolfpack started off the day with a 6-1 victory over the Mountaineers. Junior Liz Norman and sophomore Dylan Cannon won their doubles match 6-3, while senior Anna Rogers and freshman Lana Mavor won 7-5 to secure the doubles point for the Pack. No. 22 senior Adriana Reami and junior Jaeda Daniel were tied 4-4 against their opponents when play was stopped.
The Pack continued its success into singles, winning all but one match. No. 23 Reami finished first with a 6-3, 6-2 straight-sets victory. She was followed up by Norman, who notched a straight-sets victory of her own, winning 7-5, 6-0.
The Pack’s lone defeat of the day came as No. 18 Rogers was upset by Sasha Pisareva of Appalachian State. Daniel then garnered the third straight-sets victory for the Pack, winning 7-5, 6-3, while Cannon won her match 3-6, 6-1, 10-6. Mavor finished out the match by getting a hard-earned victory, winning 6-4, 6-6, 7-5 to secure the last point for the Wolfpack.
“With App today, it was a little slow, so we had to keep it going mentally and physically,” said Reami following the first match. “With East Carolina, we were ready in momentum, so I felt like I was a little bit warmer and a little more loose. So just by staying with the same mentality, I was able to keep it going.”
Following a solid outing against its foes from the western end of the state, the Pack’s attention turned quickly to its rivals from the east. The Pirates posed a stiff challenge to the Wolfpack right from the start. After Rogers and Mavor coasted to a 6-2 win in doubles, Norman and Cannon fell 6-3 and attention turned suddenly to court one for the deciding doubles match. In a back-and-forth match with everyone in the building watching, No. 22 Daniel and Reami faced a 6-5 deficit with the Pirates serving. Despite the odds, Daniel and Reami battled back, won the next game, and squeaked out a 7-6 win in tiebreaker fashion to secure the doubles point for the Wolfpack.
“I think the way our schedule is set up, this is what we need is to be pushed and to work through some tough situations,” said Daniel. “Hopefully down the road that will come in handy.”
No. 23 Reami continued her stellar day by dominating singles, winning 6-1, 6-0. Norman won 6-2, 6-1 for her second singles victory of the day, and No. 18 Rogers bounced back from her earlier defeat by winning 6-4, 6-1. Daniel finished her day by reeling in two hard-earned 6-4 wins. Daniel’s victory did not come with ease, as she had to come back from a 4-1 deficit in the first set of her singles match to come out on top.
“That’s like any other situation that you find yourself in with this sport,” Daniel said of her multiple comeback victories during the day. “It’s just one step at a time, focus on the little things, and try and kind of pull yourself out of it.”
Mavor won her match 7-5, 6-4, and freshman Marta Gonzalez won 6-2, 2-6, 10-8 to complete a 7-0 sweep of the Pirates. It was an overall dominant performance for the Wolfpack against in-state opponents.
“I see a whole lot of potential with my teammates,” said Reami. “These teams are good teams to measure how well we can be with tougher teams, and seeing how we’re playing and how much confidence we’re all gaining with each other and getting to know each other more, I feel pretty good about this season.”
The Pack’s next match will be on Jan. 25 against Rice as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The match will be held in J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center and will begin at 2 p.m.
Senior Bianca Moldovan returns a volley during a doubles match against Duke on Friday, May 11, 2019 at Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham. Moldovan and sophomore Liz Norman lost 6-3 to Duke freshmen Margaryta Bilokin and Maria Mateas during the Wolfpack’s 4-0 overall loss.
