NC State Athletics’ week in review: March 27 – April 2

Jenna Cuniowski, Assistant Sports Editor • April 4, 2023

The NC State men’s tennis team celebrates a win after the away tennis match against UNC-Chapel Hill at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Friday, March 31, 2023. NC State beat UNC 4-1.

NC State Athletics faced a slew of tough opponents this week, finding itself on the losing end of the majority of contests. However, thrilling upset wins from the men’s tennis and baseball teams more than made up for the unfortunate outcomes.

Men’s tennis stumbles in ACC play

NC State men’s tennis entered the week 5-0 in ACC play, but fell to Louisville and No. 23 Duke to end its record-breaking streak. The Pack’s 5-2 loss to the Blue Devils wasn’t nearly as surprising as its nail-biter 4-3 loss to the Cardinals, a team that was 1-5 in the ACC going into the match. Despite capturing the doubles point in both games, NC State failed to finish strong in the singles match to come away with the win.

However, in between these two losses, the Wolfpack pulled off an upset win over the No. 13 UNC Tar Heels. The Wolfpack earned the doubles point early on before grabbing three singles wins to capture its most impressive win of the season.

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Softball defeats North Carolina A&T, struggles at Purple and Gold Challenge

NC State softball played a grand total of six games throughout the week but only won two. The Pack started off strong with a win over the North Carolina A&T Aggies on Wednesday, March 29 before traveling to Louisiana to take on a slew of more challenging opponents in the Purple and Gold Challenge.

In its first three games, the Pack lost to Louisiana Tech, No. 14 LSU and BYU before shutting out Louisiana Tech and falling to LSU again in the final two games of the tournament.

Baseball beats UNCG, wins series against Louisville

NC State baseball captured a 6-2 win over UNC-Greensboro on Tuesday, March 28 before hosting the No. 11 Louisville Cardinals for a three-game series over the weekend. The Pack beat the Cardinals 6-5 and 10-0 in the first two games but then proceeded to drop the third 6-1. However, the loss didn’t hold too much weight because the red-and-white had already secured its first ACC series-win of the season against a nationally ranked squad.

Women’s tennis extends win streak to seven

NC State women’s tennis nearly swept all three of its competitors this week, defeating Boston College 7-0, ECU 7-0 and Syracuse 6-1. The No. 7 Pack’s only match loss this week came at the hands of junior Gina Dittman, who lost her singles match against the Orange on Sunday, April 2. With just one loss in the ACC, the Pack is looking to close out conference play on a high note next week, facing tough conference opponents in UNC and Duke.

Gymnastics falls short at NCAA Regional Championships

NC State gymnastics failed to advance past the second round of the NCAA Regional Championships last week, falling to Oklahoma, Ohio State and Arkansas after defeating Ball State in a play-in meet. The Pack was unable to match the high standard it had set throughout the regular season, tallying its second-lowest total score of the season at 195.375, which resulted in losses to a pool of talented top-20 teams.

Men’s golf competes at Hootie at Bulls Bay event

NC State men’s golf captured third place in the Hootie at Bulls Bay event early last week. The Pack tallied a total score of 832, 32 under-par, which is the team’s best par-related score of the season. Of the six athletes that competed, four members of the Wolfpack recorded their best 54-hole score of the season. Senior Maximilian Steinlechner paced the red-and-white and took ninth place with his score of 206, 10-under par.

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NC State Athletics’ week in review: March 27 – April 2

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