The No. 6 NC State women’s tennis team took down the No. 21 Tennessee Vols 5-2 in Knoxville, Tennessee on Friday afternoon.
By securing the victory, the Wolfpack (6-0) managed to remain unbeaten this season after another dominant display against a top-25 squad. The Vols (3-2) managed to take two courts off of the Wolfpack, but thanks to resilient singles play the Pack was able to hand the Vols their second straight loss this season.
On court five, sophomore Sophie Abrams was able to clinch the match and give the Wolfpack a 4-1 lead after taking down sophomore Esther Adeshina in a three-set thriller. Despite dropping the first set, Abrams was able to rally, and only gave up two games in the next two sets, finishing the match with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory.
Opening the match, the Wolfpack was able to secure the doubles point after a dominant display, only giving up five total games to the Vols.
On court three, freshman Priska Nugroho and senior Sara Nayar defeated freshman Elza Tomase and senior Rebeka Mertena, only dropping one game, 6-1. To take the doubles point, the sophomore duo of Amelia Rajecki and Abigail Rencheli took down graduate student Tenika McGiffin and senior Daria Kuczer with a score of 6-2.
The first singles match ended with the Vols tying the match score at 1-1. Tennessee sophomore Eleonora Molinaro defeated Rajecki on court six with a score of 6-3, 6-1.
The Wolfpack was able to bounce back though, as No. 8-ranked graduate student Jaeda Daniel took court one for the Wolfpack with a solid 6-3, 6-3, win over No. 14 Mertena while Nugroho took down Kuczer handily by a score of 6-3, 6-0.
Then, after clinching the match, the Wolfpack dropped court four as Tennessee’s No. 56 Elza Tomase took down senior Nell Miller in a tough 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 match.
Finally, the Wolfpack capped off its victory with yet another three-set thriller. This time, No. 25 Rencheli was able to take down No. 41 Tennessee graduate student Tenika McGiffin.
Rencheli took the lead early, winning the first set 6-0, but McGiffin seemed to be mounting a comeback, taking the second set 5-7. Rencheli thwarted the comeback though and finished the match with a 6-4 victory in the third set.
The Wolfpack will look to continue its unbeaten streak as the squad takes on South Carolina and East Carolina in a doubleheader this Sunday, Feb. 6 in Raleigh.
