No. 19 NC State women’s tennis returned home from its nearly one-month road trip for a match against Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center. The Wolfpack played its first outdoor match of the season, forcing it to contend with both the Monarchs and the elements. However, NC State overcame both in a 5-2 victory.
The Wolfpack’s win over the Monarchs was highlighted by No. 52 standout freshman Michaela Laki’s second win this season over a ranked opponent inside the ITA’s top-10 players in the country. Laki downed Old Dominion’s No. 6 Sofia Johnson in two sets that earned her and her team a crucial point in the Pack’s 5-2 win.
“I was really satisfied with my game,” Laki said. “Tough conditions, tough opponent — I was really motivated. I wanted to do well, I wanted to get that point for the team. Tennis-wise, my level was good. Mentallevel was tough. I knew what I had to do, and I stuck to it.”
Laki’s win over Johnson put the Pack into clinch position toward the end of the match, but NC State got out to a strong start early on with a pair of wins in the doubles round despite having to overcome the cold and wind at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
“We just keep moving forward, and we’ve got to double down, triple down on some of the things that we do well indoors and just maybe maintain a positive edge, which I think we could have done a better job with that,” said head coach Simon Earnshaw. “… Obviously, Old Dominion was never going to make it easy for us.”
In spite of the elements, the Wolfpack’s fearsome No. 2 pair of sophomores Gabriella Broadfoot and Maddy Zampardo easily put down Johnson and Lidiia Rasskouskaia on court 1 by a score of 6-2. Sophomore Kristina Paskauskas and Laki beat their Monarch opponents 6-4 on court 6 to move on to singles.
Old Dominion countered with the first two wins of the singles round — both of which were straight-set wins. First, Rasskouskaia downed junior Anna Zyryanova on court 3 6-4, 6-0 and was followed by Kira Matushkina who beat Zampardo 6-1, 6-3 on court 2.
However, while Old Dominion was earning wins on courts 2 and 3, the Pack secured significant set leads on every other court and soon enough, NC State won the final four courts of the singles round.
Broadfoot struck first with a 6-2, 6-4 win on court 4 while Laki followed up with her win over Johnson on court 1. Paskauskas clinched the match with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Old Dominion’s Victoria Matasova.
To finish the Monarchs off, freshman Mia Slama beat her opponent 6-4, 6-3 for a 5-2 win.
After three weeks on the road, Laki said it was draining, yet enjoyable to spend time with her team on the road. However, it was even better coming back and playing tennis again in Raleigh.
“It’s nice, it’s tiring, but at the same time, we’re together, we’re having fun, we’re playing good tennis,” Laki said. “So tiredness doesn’t matter. I really like it — I like traveling with a team. I like being with the girls.”
Laki said Earnshaw’s message to the team centered around staying positive during the course of play.
“He said to be positive and to keep doing what we’re practicing,” Laki said. “And I think today was a really good win, so he must be happy. I mean, we have to keep improving, keep practicing hard and results will come.”
NC State will have its toughest battle yet in its next match. The Wolfpack is set to play No. 7 Michigan on Friday in Raleigh with play starting at 3 p.m.
