No. 12 NC State women’s tennis earned its highest-ranked win since 2023 after toppling No. 2 Virginia in a 4-2 victory in Raleigh on Sunday.
Despite losing the doubles point, NC State rallied in singles, defeating one of the best lineups in the country on almost every court. After a long tirade of singles play, freshman Mia Slama clinched the Pack’s biggest win of the season yet.
Prior to its impressive victory over the Cavaliers, the Wolfpack swept the less-formidable Virginia Tech Hokies on Friday afternoon by a score of 4-0.
Versus No. 2 Virginia, 4-2 win
The Wolfpack fell in an early hole after losing the doubles point in its toughest match of the season. A perennial member of college tennis royalty, Virginia took it to NC State early on, earning wins on Courts 2 and 3 in the doubles round. While the No. 2 pair of sophomores Maddy Zampardo and Gabriella Broadfoot won 6-1 on Court 1, the Pack’s other pairs fell, putting it in a 1-0 hole.
However, the Pack turned things around in singles. Not letting the mission of winning four singles courts against one of the best teams in the country intimidate them, the members of NC State proved they could play with and beat anyone in the nation, no matter their ranking.
Sophomore Kristina Paskauskas got things started in singles with a quick 6-0, 6-3 win on Court 5, which was followed by another two set win — a hard-earned 6-4, 6-4 victory from Broadfoot on Court 4.
Up 2-1, NC State had momentum on each and every court in singles. Keeping its foot on the gas, the Wolfpack’s No. 42 freshman Michaela Laki defeated Virginia’s No. 22 Sara Ziodato to go up 3-1. Laki slugged out a tough first set win but had a strong second set. As Ziodato grew more frustrated throughout the match, Laki closed in faster and faster on her eventual 7-5, 6-1 victory.
From there, it came down to Slama, junior Anna Zyryanova and Zampardo, who were all battling in their third sets. Needing just one win across all three matches, Slama had more of a margin for error, and thus, more confidence in her match against Virginia’s Martina Genis Salas.
“Having Anna and Maddy both playing at the same time, I was like, ‘Okay, we just need to win one of these three matches,’” Slama said. “That took a lot of pressure off of me and it made me feel like I could play more freely and really play how I wanted to play.”
Slama played a back-and-forth filled with ups and downs before her third set. However, as she entered the deciding set, the freshman knew how and what she wanted to do to defeat her opponent.
“Going into the third set, I definitely had a clear plan,” Slama said. “I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to play aggressive, move forward, bring the tempo up — the pace of the ball — take the ball to her, not let her spin affect me as much and try and stay in control of points.”
Zampardo eventually fell in her third set, leaving just Zyryanova and Slama to clinch the match. While both raced to the finish line, Slama crossed first, finishing off Genis Salas 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Like she did against then-No. 6 Michigan a month before, Slama was greeted by a rush of her teammates after clinching the upset win.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Slama said. “I kind of get deja vu from last time. It’s honestly an amazing feeling to see your team running towards you, knowing that you contributed a lot to the win. I’m overjoyed right now.”
Slama’s clinch over the Cavs marked NC State’s best win of the season and the biggest victory for this set of young players.
“We’ve been looking better and better each week,” said assistant coach David Secker. “These young players are getting used to playing all the time and the rigor of practice in the season. So I thought today was a good kind of midterm expression of that — we kind of reached the point now where we’re showing what we’re learning.”
Versus Virginia Tech, 4-0 win
Just a few days earlier NC State beat Virginia Tech in a much simpler match — the Wolfpack defeated the Hokies in a 4-0 sweep in Raleigh.
Secker said all wins in the ACC are hard to come by, even 4-0 sweeps.
“You don’t get a win in this league easily, and that’s what we have to make them understand,” Secker said. “It’s good and bad because you can play with everybody, but even the ones where you maybe say, ‘We’re supposed to win,’ the margins are not big.”
NC State got out to a quick start via the doubles round against the Hokies. Broadfoot and Zampardo got their first win of the weekend in a 6-2 victory while Paskauskas and Laki downed their opponents on Court 3 to earn a 1-0 edge.
Slama got her first singles win of the weekend with a much easier win against Virginia Tech than her triumph against Virginia. Slama beat her Hokie opponent 6-1, 6-2 to get the round started for the Pack.
From there, Broadfoot and Zampardo each captured smooth two-set wins on Courts 3 and 2, respectively. Broadfoot won 6-1, 6-3 while Zampardo won 6-2, 6-2 to clinch the match at 4-0. All other courts were left unfinished due to the clinch.
NC State is set to face two more formidable opponents in Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. Both are away matches and the Pack will travel to Durham to take on the Blue Devils on March 21. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
