Competition is beginning to reach a new level of intensity for NC State Athletics as the fall sports regular season draws to a close and the start of postseason play inches closer.
Women’s tennis puts on a show at the ITA All-American Championships
NC State made a short trip over to Cary, North Carolina this past week to compete in the ITA All-American Championships. Multiple competitors from the Wolfpack succeeded in both the doubles and singles competitions.
In doubles play, a very talented duo consisting of fifth-year Nell Miller and junior Amelia Rajecki captured the championship title, claiming the Pack’s first-ever title at the event. Juniors Abigail Rencheli and Sophie Abrams also participated in the doubles draw but struggled to find success.
In singles play, Rajecki demonstrated her ability to compete individually as she won three qualifying matches and one match in the main singles draw before losing to a ranked opponent. Her teammate, No. 23 Rencheli won one match in the main draw. Abrams, Miller and junior Gina Dittman also competed in the singles draw but couldn’t carve out a victory.
Read more about the Pack’s impressive performance.
Men’s soccer overwhelms High Point, falls to Boston College
The Pack faced off against the High Point Panthers Tuesday, Oct. 4, at Dail Soccer Field. The Wolfpack came away from the contest with a much-needed 2-0 shutout victory over the Panthers with goals from freshman midfielder Calem Tommy and sophomore midfielder Will Buete.
The red-and-white then traveled to Boston College Friday, Oct. 7, hoping to use the momentum gained in their previous win to defeat the Eagles. However, despite outshooting Boston College 13-10, NC State struggled to score and ultimately lost the match 2-0. The Pack’s record now stands at 4-5-2 (1-4 ACC) on the season.
Read more about the Pack’s victory over HPU.
Read more about NC State’s loss to Boston College.
Volleyball splits two games on the road
NC State extended its win streak to three as it traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia to defeat the Virginia Tech Hokies 3-1. Key contributions came from graduate opposite hitter Vanja Bukilic, sophomore opposite hitter Amanda Rice and freshman outside hitter Ava Brizard, who each put up 13 kills in the match.
The Pack’s win streak was ended by the Demon Deacons when it traveled to Winston-Salem to battle Wake Forest. Three members of the Wolfpack tallied more than 10 kills: sophomore outside hitter Martyna Leoniak with 15, Bukilic with 13 and Brizard with 12. Despite these impressive efforts, the red-and-white fell to Wake Forest 3-1.
Read more about the Pack’s win at Virginia Tech.
Read more about NC State’s match against Wake Forest.
Football scrapes past FSU to move to 5-1
NC State did not look like itself in the first half as it was outscored 17-3 by the Seminoles. However, a strong defensive effort combined with three second-half field goals by graduate kicker Chris Dunn allowed the Pack to rebound from its first-half performance and emerge with a 19-17 victory. The red-and-white held FSU to just 93 total yards in the second half after giving up 294 in the first.
Although NC State gained some momentum in the second half, it didn’t go over quite as smoothly as it would have liked. Redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary, who’s been a primary source of the Wolfpack’s success all season, went down hard towards the end of the third quarter and left the offense in the hands of graduate quarterback Jack Chambers.
Read more about the Pack’s close call against FSU.
Women’s soccer falls twice
It was a challenging week for NC State as it battled two ranked opponents on the road but failed to score against either team.
Against No. 17 Notre Dame, the Wolfpack was outshot 16-4. The Fighting Irish’s strong line of defense and aggressive offense ultimately resulted in a 3-0 loss for the red-and-white, which couldn’t find its footing for the duration of the game.
Against No. 5 UNC-Chapel Hill, junior goalkeeper Maria Echezarreta recorded a career-high 10 saves, but it still wasn’t enough to propel the Pack to victory. NC State once again struggled to build any sort of offensive momentum and got shutout by the Tar Heels, 2-0.
