Patricia Scholle
Senior Abigail Rencheli prepares to return the ball during the match against UNC-Chapel Hill at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center on Friday, March 22, 2024. The Wolfpack beat the Tar Heels 4-3.
Despite beating UNC-Chapel Hill in a 4-3 thriller on Friday, No. 14 NC State women’s tennis came out on the other side of another 4-3 result, falling to No. 23 Duke in the final leg of its pair of rivalry weekend matches in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack (15-5, 5-2 ACC) and Blue Devils (11-5, 4-3 ACC) went blow-for-blow in Raleigh. But like the rivals’ last three meetings, Duke got the better of the red-and-white in a 4-3 result, and like other matches this season, NC State had trouble giving its all on every single court.
“It’s another close match,” said head coach Simon Earnshaw. “I mean, I feel like we struggle to kind of play all seven [courts], which is why you get these exciting matches.”
This loss marks the fourth match in a row that Duke has beaten NC State 4-3, and it moves the Blue Devils’ all-time record against the Pack to a whopping 25-2.
Even after holding a 3-1 lead late in the match, thanks to a doubles win and singles victories from senior Amelia Rajecki and freshman Maddy Zampardo, the door to an NC State match win was rapidly closing. Duke controlled the remaining three courts, and soon downed seniors Sophie Abrams and Abigail Rencheli in straight sets to leave the match in the hands of senior Gina Dittmann.
Dittmann battled in a slow-moving match on court four with Duke’s No. 94 Katie Codd. By the time all other matches were done — every one of which was a two-setter — Dittmann had just started her second set. Even still, Dittmann and Codd went back-and-forth in two close sets.
Ultimately, though, Codd outperformed her opponent, beating Dittmann 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 despite a well-played match from the senior.
“We just didn’t have it,” Earnshaw said. “And I think the path to victory was quite narrow. We probably had to win at [courts] one, four and six, and we weren’t able to pull it off in a really close, well-contested set at number four singles.”
After Rajecki’s 6-3, 6-2 win on court one, Zampardo’s 6-3, 6-2 victory on court six and Dittmann’s close match on court four, NC State had little hope of a win from any other singles court.
No. 51 Rencheli fell 6-4, 6-0 on court two after Duke’s No. 90 Shavit Kimchi raced by her in their second set. No. 110 Abrams fell 6-3, 6-2 on court five while No. 43 sophomore Anna Zyryanova fell in a similar 6-3, 6-1 result on court two.
With an inability to turn any of those courts into contested three-set matches, the Pack became reliant on Dittmann coming through on four against a red-hot Codd.
“We haven’t done well in three-setters,” Earnshaw said. “We haven’t done a very good job of turning matches into three sets as well, which is part of it, right? I think we’ve had way too many matches turn into three-setters that shouldn’t have been three-setters and we haven’t turned ones into three-setters that would give us a good chance to kind of come back.”
Early on, the Wolfpack won the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. The No. 13 pair of Rajecki and Zampardo beat Codd and Kimchi 6-4 while the No. 10 pair of Abrams and Zyryanova downed their Blue Devil opponents 6-3 on court two.
With the doubles point and a quick singles win from Zampardo, the Wolfpack couldn’t have asked for a better start. But with a Duke team that refused to give up and quick losses on courts two, three and five, the Blue Devils completed the comeback, turning a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win.
With just six matches left this season, the Wolfpack is set to take to the road to play one of the, if not the, best team in the ACC. NC State will ship out to Charlottesville, Virginia for a date with No. 5 Virginia on Thursday, March 28. First serve is set for 4 p.m.