No. 15 NC State women’s tennis celebrated senior day for its four decorated and experienced seniors but fell to Florida State 5-2 in its regular season home finale in Raleigh. 

While the Wolfpack downed No. 19 Miami just days before, NC State lost five of six first sets against a fiery Seminoles squad. While senior Sophie Abrams won her match in two sets, the visitors got out to daunting leads on almost every other court and followed up on them for five singles wins. 

“FSU really came out here and they fought really hard,” Abrams said. “And they’ve always been a team that’s given us a lot of challenges because they fight so hard.” 

This marks the Wolfpack’s third loss in its last five matches, showing the team’s inability to establish a level of consistency and string wins together. While the Pack has shown the ability to beat high-ranking teams, it can’t pull it all together match in, match out. 

“I think it has been quite clear the last four weeks that we’re having a hard time with consistency and that’s four weeks in a row where we win one, lose one,” said head coach Simon Earnshaw. “It’s tough — when we get up, we have high highs, but when we struggle we got low lows.” 

The Pack won the early doubles round with two simple wins on courts one and two. The No. 15 pair of senior Amelia Rajecki and freshman Maddy Zampardo won 6-4 while the No. 11 pair of sophomore Anna Zyryanova and Abrams won 6-3. Freshman Gabriella Broadfoot and senior Abigail Rencheli lost 6-2, but their teammates secured a 1-0 lead for them going into the singles round. 

While NC State was strong in doubles, the same couldn’t be said for its singles play. Florida State jumped out to commanding leads on nearly every court. The most surprising NC State loss came on court one from No. 5 Rajecki, who lost to FSU’s No. 46 Vic Allen 6-2, 6-2. It’s rare Rajecki ever loses in straight sets, but Allen got the better of the Pack’s star on senior day.

While Abrams won her match, the Seminoles eventually knocked down multiple courts in quick succession to run up their score. They downed Zampardo on court five 6-3, 6-3 and senior Gina Dittmann 7-5, 6-2 to quickly move into clinch position. 

With Florida State threatening at 3-2, the path to an NC State win was narrow. Needing Zyryanova and Rencheli to both fight through second-set deficits after losing their first sets, NC State and its fans at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center were hanging on by a thread. 

With No. 45 Zyryanova down 4-5 in her second set and No. 54 Rencheli down 3-5, both fought through to extra games in those sets, giving a bit of life to their teams. However, with FSU only needing one win, the Seminoles eventually got the better of Rencheli, with No. 51 Ellie Schoppe beating her 6-2, 7-5. 

Zyryanova pulled through in her second set, but it was too little, too late — Florida State had already clinched its upset win over the Wolfpack. To add insult to injury, Zyryanova fell in her third-set superbreaker for a final decision of 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 1-0 (10-7) , and a final match score of 5-2. 

Before the match, NC State celebrated its decorated class of seniors in Rajecki, Abrams, Rencheli and Dittmann — some of the best athletes in program history and throughout NC State Athletics. 

“I don’t think they get celebrated as much as a lot of athletes on this campus,” Earnshaw said. “But they’ve been as good of athletes as anybody in any program. They’re multiple time All-Americans. A lot of them have been part of program-best. And, you know, I think ultimately that will be their legacy here.”

For seniors like Abrams, the ceremony was a chance to celebrate and honor their years of experience with the Wolfpack. 

“I’m very grateful for that and everything that I’ve been through with this team,” Abrams said. “I’ve had a lot of great experiences, so it means a lot to be a part of this team. And this last year has been tough, I think for all of us. But that doesn’t take away everything that NC State has given us, and it’s been a great time.” 

After beating teams like Miami and UNC-Chapel Hill earlier this season, NC State is looking to string together wins to finish its regular season. Now, the Wolfpack is set to face Georgia Tech and Clemson in back-to-back road matches. 

“The goal is to put two matches back-to-back, especially on a road trip, that could definitely help us, and I think we need that momentum going into postseason play,” Abrams said. “We know what we’re capable of, having beaten UNC this year and having started the year so well. We just need to end on a high and make sure we get some momentum going to ACCs.”

First serve against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta is set for 4 p.m. Friday, April 12.