No. 5 NC State women’s tennis suffered its third straight loss in an upset loss to Oklahoma. The Sooners downed the Wolfpack 4-2 in Norman, Oklahoma, in the final match of the red-and-white’s month-long road trip.
After falling to No. 2 Michigan in back-to-back matches, the Wolfpack had a chance to get back in the win column against Oklahoma. While a historically great program, the Sooners have fallen far out of the top-25 top teams in the country this season. Nevertheless, an experienced Oklahoma team pulled off the upset after winning the doubles point and three out of the five finished singles matches on the day.
The Sooners started out strong, shocking the Wolfpack by taking the doubles round with wins on just two courts. Oklahoma defeated freshman Gabriella Broadfoot and senior Abigail Rencheli 6-3 on court three and upset the No. 13 pair of senior Amelia Rajecki and freshman Maddy Zampardo on court one by a score of 6-4.
NC State’s other pair, No. 9 sophomore Anna Zyryanova and senior Sohpie Abrams, weren’t faring any better on their court when play was stopped. Oklahoma upset the Pack in doubles and was determined to do the same in the subsequent singles round.
The Sooners started it off with a lopsided win over No. 30 Rencheli on court two. The senior fell in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, doubling the home side’s lead.
Facing a 2-0 deficit, NC State fought back with back-to-back wins from No. 27 Zyryanova and Zampardo on courts three and five, respectively. Both finished their respective straight set wins with second set tiebreaker victories by scores of 7-3. Zyryanova won 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) while Zampardo followed her lead with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) victory on court five to even the match out at 2-2.
However, the Sooners still pulled through despite the tied scoreline. With only three-set matches remaining, Oklahoma beat Broadfoot after she was inserted into the lineup in place of senior Gina Dittmann. Broadfoot fell 3-6, 6-2, 0-6 on court six — a loss that put the Sooners into clinch position.
It was Oklahoma’s Chloe Noel who finished off the overall match win with an upset over No. 44 Abrams on court four. Abrams won her first set but fell in her final two sets for a final scoreline of 6-2, 4-6, 4-6.
With the win over Abrams, Oklahoma completed its upset over the Wolfpack. With the match clinched, play on court one with No. 3 Rajecki went unfinished.
After a three-match slide, the Wolfpack is finally set to return to the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh to face off against Notre Dame in its ACC opener. Play against the Fighting Irish is set for Friday, March 1, at 2 p.m. with play against ECU beginning at 6 p.m. as the second leg of a doubleheader.
