Despite a seemingly lopsided scoreline, No. 12 NC State women’s tennis fell in a thrilling ACC Tournament match against its rival, No. 4 UNC-Chapel Hill by a score of 4-1.
After numerous clashes between the two sides, many of which have taken place at Cary Tennis Park, the rivals added to their storied history with another brutally intense match.
While the higher-ranked Heels pulled ahead to a daunting 3-0 score thanks to a doubles win and two-set singles victories over junior Anna Zyryanova and freshman Gabia Paskauskas, NC State did its best to pull off the near-impossible reverse sweep feat.
A two-set 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 win from No. 81 Maddy Zampardo over No. 50 Tatum Evans got the Pack on the board. With no margin for error, the Wolfpack battled in the third set on each remaining court.
It all came down to sophomore Kristina Pasukauskas, freshman Mia Slama and sophomore Gabriella Broadfoot, who fought on Courts 4, 5 and 3, respectively.
With UNC needing to win just one of those three sets to win the match, NC State refused to go away easily. With a close margin on each and every court, UNC eventually pushed all three players to the brink of set losses, and finally got Slama on Court 6, defeating the Wolfpack 4-1.
NC State was missing its best player in freshman Michaela Laki, who went down with a season-ending knee injury at the end of the Pack’s regular season. Even still, head coach Simon Earnshaw thought his team had the most potential at the bottom of its lineup — something that could either sink or swim the red-and-white.
“We did a great job surviving,” Earnshaw said. “I felt that down low, even though we’re down a player, we still had a lot of depth. But unfortunately, what got us was [Courts] 5 and 6, and I felt again, like the first time we played UNC, our biggest advantage was at 6 and we didn’t get it.”
In the end, the Pack’s inexperience, youth and the bottom of its lineup sunk it, especially against Carolina’s seasoned roster of veteran players used to winning championships.
“We’re battling from an experience deficit, but I think physically, and the way we’re trying to put our game together, is potentially better,” Earnshaw said.
Early on, the Pack fell in a quick doubles round, highlighted by another loss from NC State’s top-ranked pair, No. 8 Broadfoot and Zampardo, who were pitted against UNC’s No. 9 Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton. The pair fell 6-1 to Brantmeier and Hamilton, and while Gabia Paskauskas and Slama beat No. 73 Tatum Evans and Theadora Rabman 6-2, freshman Jasmine Conway and Zyryanova fell 6-4 to No. 13 Susanna Maltby and Carson Tanguilig to decide the early point.
NC State never did enough to dig itself out of the early hole, and no matter how well it hung on late, UNC did all the right things to nearly guarantee itself a victory.
The Wolfpack’s 2025 ACC Tournament campaign ended with the loss, but NC State will compete in the NCAA Tournament starting in just two weeks, and will be just one of the hosts of the first two rounds of the competition in Raleigh.
Earnshaw was confident in his team’s ability to succeed in the tournament and in future seasons.
“It doesn’t take much for this to suddenly tip the other way, right?” Earnshaw said. “I think, particularly as the conditions get a bit warmer as well, I think it helps us. But the players have to stick with it. They got to believe more in what we’re trying to do and be even more committed.”
