N.C. State’s women’s tennis team took on UNC- Greensboro Thursday afternoon at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Court in a passionate but one-sided affair, taking down the Spartans 7-0.
The Pack won its doubles 9-8, 8-2, and 8-6 to win one point of the needed four, behind junior Joelle Kissell and senior Tatiana Illova. Sophomores Nicole Martinez, Elisha Hande, Sophie Nelson and Senior Chloe were essential in clinching matches for the team.
State extended its lead with two more singles victories coming from Kissell and Illova who finished their respective matches in two sets winning by margins of 7-5, 6-3 and 6-2, 6-3. The further matches were closer with freshman Rachel James-Baker and Martinez splitting their contests to three sets of 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, and 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 respectively.
NCSU’s Hande finished her singles contest 6-0, 6-2 to sweep up the sixth point. Smith finished off the last set to deliver State’s seventh after splitting one set in 1-6 and 7-5 apiece to then close out 10-2 in the tie breaker.
Regaining calm paid off big for both Rachel James-Baker and Chloe Smith as both competitors fell in the first set by large deficits.
For James-Baker, this was her first competitive team match.
“I am so excited and feel so blessed,” James-Baker said, who just recovered from an ankle injury.
A lot of the same could be said for Smith whose later splitting of the set would come down to much closer results as the last match of the night.
“I got a little frustrated in the first set and I was able to calm myself down and focus on my base,” Smith said. “I was trying to be more aggressive by hitting through my forehand and getting the ball deeper in the court.”
“These matches are really close and I think that’s why we do what we do,” head coach Hans Olsen said. “We come out to play for this kind of situation when it’s really close. If we had won every match easily that’s great too, but I love to see the battle. I love to see tight situations and how we respond to them. We did a great job playing one point at a time.”
