After dropping a rare three straight matches, No. 10 NC State women’s tennis got back in the win column with not one, but two wins at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh. The Wolfpack defeated Notre Dame 5-2 in its ACC opener and swept East Carolina 7-0 just after.

Versus Notre Dame, 5-2

NC State (10-3, 1-0 ACC) began its homestand with a date featuring the previous top-25 Fighting Irish team (9-4, 1-2 ACC). The Pack used a fast start to gain an early lead via the doubles point and carried it into the subsequent singles round. Despite dropping two singles matches, NC State emerged with its first ACC victory of the season.

The Wolfpack captured two succinct 6-1 wins on courts one and three. The No. 13 pair of senior Amelia Rajecki and freshman Maddy Zampardo won first on court one and were quickly followed by senior Abigail Rencheli and freshman Gabriella Broadfoot on court three.

From there, the Wolfpack jumped out to a dominant lead in singles, taking five of six first sets.

“It seemed a little bit too clear cut almost at the beginning of doubles and that kind of persisted through the doubles,” said head coach Simon Earnshaw. “I think we were pretty uniform there. And that kind of continued, sort of in the early going a little bit on a couple of courts in singles.”

To no one’s surprise, No. 3 Rajecki earned an easy 6-3, 6-2 win on court one to double the Wolfpack’s lead. While No. 27 sophomore Anna Zyryanova and No. 44 Sophie Abrams were fighting losing battles against their opponents, the rest of NC State’s players had them covered.

Zyryanova lost in straight sets, but No. 30 Rencheli countered with a two set win of her own, beating her opponent 6-4, 6-2 on court three to put the Wolfpack in clinch position.

Even though Abrams fell in three sets on court four, Zampardo secured the match victory with a 6-4, 6-0 win as she raced through her second set on court five. Senior Gina Dittmann followed up with another simple win — a 6-1, 6-3 victory on court six to close out the final 5-2 decision.

Versus East Carolina, 7-0

The second match of the day saw NC State take on East Carolina (5-4). With another doubleheader set for Sunday, March 3, four matches in one weekend gives a chance for the Pack to play more than its usual lineup of players.

“Well, the pros are that everybody gets to play,” Earnshaw said. “And you know, we’ve had such a serious schedule in February; that wasn’t necessarily the case.”

Freshman Kristina Paskauskas got her first start of the season in both doubles and singles, grabbing a 6-2 doubles win on court three with Dittmann just after Broadfoot and Rencheli earned a 6-1 win on court two.

With another doubles point in hand, the Wolfpack got to work in singles, sweeping the Pirates without dropping a single set. Dittmann commanded another dominant singles win, beating her ECU opponent 6-1, 6-0 for the first singles win of the second match.

Just after, Zampardo got her second straight sets win of the day with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Two months into her career in the red and white, Zampardo is taking advantage of the rigorous training that comes with college tennis in order to benefit her game.

“I think I’ve gotten a lot more physically fit and mentally fit,” Zampardo said. “I’ve kind of shocked myself at what I can do and the level I can sustain with how much we’re training and how hard we’re working.”

From there, Rencheli won 6-0, 6-3 on court two and Rajecki won 6-3, 6-4 on court one. With a sizable lead in hand, the Wolfpack finished off the sweep courtesy of wins from two more freshmen — Broadfoot and Paskauskas — who won 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-2, respectively.

With another doubleheader on the horizon, NC State’s taking advantage of the opportunity an action-packed weekend provides.

“Of course I think we’ll all be tired by the end of it,” Zampardo said. “But we work a lot on our bodies, and we work really hard to stay in shape. And so I think we’re ready for it and I think it’s only going to help us in the future.”

The Wolfpack’s set to face Louisville in another ACC clash at 12 p.m. on Sunday, followed by a match against East Tennessee State at 4 p.m.