The No. 3 NC State women’s tennis team closed out its 2022 regular season with a dominant 7-0 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
With a gritty showing in singles, the Pack was able to win every match of the day to take the ACC win, ending the regular season with a 22-4 overall record and a 10-3 conference record. The team also had the chance to celebrate senior day, namely honoring graduate student Jaeda Daniel in her last season with the Wolfpack and her amazing contributions to the team and program.
Since transferring to NC State in 2019, Daniel has been an impressive and integral part of the Pack’s lineup in all three of her seasons in Raleigh. The 2021 ITA doubles All-American was honored in the senior day ceremony and reflected on her time at NC State.
“It’s been a journey,” Daniel said. “I think I’ve learned a lot about myself and just about my life, gone through a lot of ups and downs, but it’s been a really good experience. I would say I’m looking forward to the next chapter, but I’m really grateful for what I’ve had.”
To finish off the season, Daniel pulled off one of her most impressive wins all year. Playing in her usual number-one spot in the lineup, Daniel completed a grueling two set match that included two tiebreakers. After winning her first set, she narrowly lost her second in an intense second set tiebreak. To decide the match, Daniel didn’t look back and dominated in her super breaker, winning ten out of eleven points, contributing to the Pack’s perfect day with her 6-4, 6-7 (8-10), 1-0 (10-1) win.
“I would say it’s very special,” Daniel said. “I love when my parents get to come out. … It’s really exciting. It’s difficult, playing on senior day, but I know it’s not our last home match.”
Daniel’s performance was representative of the team’s performance overall, with five total tiebreakers during the singles round, the squad was forced to fight for every point, but all came through with Wolfpack wins.
To start the day,NC State was able to take the early doubles point easily. The No. 22 pair of sophomores Amelia Rajecki and Abigail Rencheli took court two 6-3, while the No. 3 pair of Daniel and senior Nell Miller won court one 7-5.
Up 1-0, No. 60 freshman Priska Nugroho took no time in increasing the Pack’s lead. Nugroho cruised through her 6-1, 6-1 match to claim her seventh straight singles win.
No. 40 Rencheli also won in straight sets to put NC State into the clinch position with her 6-4, 6-1 victory on court two. Clinching the match at 4-0 for the Pack was Rajecki, who battled through the longest tiebreak of the day. To decide the second set after winning her first, the sophomore won an amazing tiebreak and finished her match with a final score of 6-3, 7-6, (13-11).
At 4-0, sophomore Sophie Abrams was able to have a much cleaner second set than her first, which she won in tiebreak. The freshman took it 7-6, (8-6), 6-2 and continued to add to the Pack’s lead. After Daniel was able to finish off her special win, the Pack won one more tiebreak as Miller won court five in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), finishing off the undefeated 7-0 match win.
After winning all five tiebreakers on the day, the Pack looks to the impending conference championships and will search for success against familiar ACC opponents. But, after going 14-0 in match score in the last two matches, the Pack has momentum heading into the tournament, as well as the exceptional level of play the squad has brought all season long.
“I think we all feel like, even early on, we can do better,” said head coach Simon Earnshaw. “I feel like we can play better and I think we’re feeling pretty good going into postseason play. The ACC tournament hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground for us. That’s definitely been a point of emphasis for us this year. So hopefully we’re excited and I think we’re going there on an uptick right now.”
The ACC Championships will start on Wednesday, April 20 in Rome, Georgia. NC State awaits the finish of all regular season matches to determine its draw in the tournament.
