No. 7 NC State women’s tennis just can’t seem to catch a break.
Just a couple days after suffering a 7-0 loss to No. 1 UNC in Chapel Hill, the Wolfpack was pitted against its other bitter rival in blue — No. 6 Duke.
The Blue Devils (22-2, 11-1 ACC) took a page out of Carolina’s book by sending the Pack (17-4, 8-3 ACC) back to Raleigh with nothing but a 4-3 loss, and while the scoreline suggests it went right down to the wire, Duke clinched the win at 4-1. After losing the doubles point, NC State couldn’t gain enough traction in singles play to overcome Duke’s abilities, leading to its second straight loss — a rare occurrence for the Wolfpack.
While NC State stayed competitive in the doubles round, Duke ultimately got the better of its rival on courts one and three to win the point. The Blue Devils earned two 6-4 wins on those courts, defeating the pairs of No. 10 freshman Diana Shnaider and graduate student Alana Smith and juniors Abigail Rencheli and Sophie Abrams. Even though the No. 11 pair of fifth-year senior Nell Miller and junior Amelia Rajecki had their opponents at 6-6 on court two, the effort didn’t amount to anything on the scoreboard.
Singles brought more of the same for the Pack. Duke got off to quick starts on a majority of courts and raced away with the lead after earning straight-set wins on courts five and one. Despite playing her opponent close in two competitive sets, Abrams ultimately lost 6-4, 6-3 on court five and No. 18 Shnaider fell 6-3, 6-3 on one to put the Blue Devils in clinch position.
Junior Gina Dittmann then claimed a hard-earned win on court six to get the Pack on the board. However, Duke’s 3-1 lead was still too much to overcome for NC State, especially with the Blue Devils approaching a three-set win on court four over Rencheli. In the end, the junior fell 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to seal the red-and-white’s fate.
Despite the loss at 4-1, NC State managed to win the two remaining courts to move the final scoreline to 4-3. First, No. 13 Smith won on court two after her opponent retired early into their second set. Finally, No. 28 Rajecki defeated Duke’s No. 34 Emma Jackson in three sets via a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 decision, making for a personal highlight for the junior.
In the end, though, NC State couldn’t get enough going to seriously threaten Duke, and fell to the Blue Devils for a third straight time.
But the Pack’s opposition doesn’t get any easier from here. Next, the red-and-white is set to return home, but will face another college tennis juggernaut in Texas.
Play against the No. 11 Longhorns is scheduled for Monday, April 10 at 1 p.m.
