Just one day after falling to No. 10 Ohio State in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend, No. 10 NC State women’s tennis suffered its second loss of the event in a close, 4-3 upset defeat at the hands of Texas Tech.
Due to the loss versus the Buckeyes, NC State played the Red Raiders in a consolation match while playing in Knoxville, Tennessee in the annual ITA Kickoff Weekend. In what usually is a successful event for the red-and-white, the Pack failed to emerge with a win by the end of the weekend.
The Red Raiders started the upset by taking down the Pack in doubles — a rarity for many teams who face NC State, which usually specializes in the doubles round. Texas Tech (3-1) didn’t slow down in singles and ultimately took the match from the Pack (2-2) via a game-deciding win on court two over junior Anna Zyryanova.
Tied at 3-3, NC State had a chance to stave off the upset-driven Red Raiders. After bouncing back in the second set after a first-set loss, Zyryanova battled in her match-deciding third set. However, her opponent, Mariia Hlahola, defeated one of the Pack’s best players 6-3 in the final set with a final score of 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Early on, the Wolfpack surprisingly surrendered the early, all-important doubles point to Texas Tech. NC State didn’t even have time to win a doubles court with the Red Raiders winning both courts in a trio of close matches.
NC State’s No. 5 pair of sophomores Maddy Zampardo and Gabriella Broadfoot squared off with the No. 15 pair of Hlahola and Avelina Sayfetdinova. The ranked Raiders pair took down the No. 5 duo in the nation by a score of 6-4 before another one of their ranked pairs — the 33rd ranked duo in the country — beat freshman Michaela Laki and sophomore Kristina Paskauskas in a close 7-5 result.
While freshman Mia Slama and Zyryanova were tied with their opponents on court two in a match that ultimately went unfinished, Texas Tech won both the doubles courts it needed to gain the critical 1-0 advantage.
Texas Tech drew first blood in singles with a win over No. 55 freshman Gabia Paskauskas in two quick sets on court five. NC State responded on court six with a win from Slama, who captured a 6-1, 6-4 victory to place the score at 2-1.
Laki, NC State’s upstart freshman who has taken over the No. 1 spot for the Pack, earned a 6-4, 6-3 win on court one to tie the contest at 2-2. Just after, however, the Red Raiders punched back with a win on court three over Kristina Paskauskas in straight sets.
With Texas Tech in clinch position, NC State responded with a straight sets singles win of its own when Zampardo struck with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 win on court four. After Zampardo’s victory, it all came down to Zyryanova, who could not clinch the win on court two.
After the loss, NC State will travel to Austin, Texas to face the Texas Longhorns on Friday. First serve in Austin is set for 3 p.m.
