At this point, it’s become routine for the NC State women’s tennis team to claim wins against ranked competitors. No matter how close the match against No. 19 Georgia Tech in Raleigh was, the Wolfpack still found a way to capture its fifth-straight ranked win.
After No. 4 NC State (8-1, 2-0 ACC) secured the early doubles point, the Yellow Jackets (7-3, 2-1 ACC) gave the home team a run for its money in singles, taking two of the first three courts to grab a 2-1 lead. However, the Wolfpack hunkered down, winning three unanswered singles matches to clinch the match and ultimately win 4-3.
The red-and-white did its thing in the doubles round, easily taking the early point thanks to two 6-2 wins on courts one and three. First, the No. 23 pair of freshman Diana Shnaider and graduate student Alana Smith got a quick victory on court one, and juniors Sophie Abrams and Abigail Rencheli finished the round with a similar win on the last court.
The Yellow Jackets turned up the heat in the singles round, claiming some quick wins over two of NC State’s five ranked players. Georgia Tech’s first point came from No. 14 Carol Lee, who defeated NC State’s stellar freshman, No. 52 Shnaider. Next, No. 108 Mahak Jain defeated the No. 69 Abrams on court four, putting the Wolfpack on the defensive.
NC State responded accordingly with a flurry of singles wins that allowed it to comfortably clinch at 4-2. First, junior Gina Dittman beat her Yellow Jacket opponent 7-5, 6-3 on court six, tying the match at 2-2.
To put the Pack in clinch position, No. 51 Rencheli earned a tense two-set win on court five. The junior edged out her opponent in a drawn-out first-set tiebreaker and eventually won 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.
NC State’s final win came from No. 17 junior Amelia Rajecki on court three, who after narrowly losing her first set via tiebreak proceeded to dominate in her next two sets. In the end, the junior’s impressive 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-3 win sealed the deal for the Pack.
Georgia Tech managed to claim one more point — a three-set victory over No. 15 Smith on court two — but the win was merely consolation, setting the final score at 4-3.
After securing its sixth-straight win, nothing looks like it’ll slow down the red-hot Wolfpack anytime soon, especially Clemson and ETSU, who will take on NC State in a doubleheader before the team takes a three-week road trip.
The Wolfpack will take on the Tigers and ETSU at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, on Sunday, March 5.
