No. 7 NC State women’s tennis brought out the brooms for the seventh time this season in its 7-0 sweep over Boston College on Sunday, April 2 in Raleigh.
With rivalry weekend and its toughest stretch of its 2023 campaign rapidly approaching, the Wolfpack (17-2, 8-1 ACC) first had to deal with the Eagles. Ultimately, however, Boston College (10-9) proved to be no match for the red-and-white.
“You can’t complain when it’s 7-0,” said junior Sophie Abrams. “[Head coach Simon Earnshaw] just told us to stay focused on the match today and not get ahead of ourselves. I think we’re pretty happy with how it went.”
Like the rest of her team, Abrams had a strong day on the courts, evidenced by her crushing 6-0, 6-1 singles win. Before that, though, Abrams and her fellow junior, Abigail Rencheli, helped their team win the early doubles point with a 6-2 win. Graduate student Alana Smith and freshman Anna Zyryanova combined for a 6-1 win on the adjacent court three, granting NC State a 1-0 lead.
If you blinked, you would’ve missed Abrams’ solo win on court four to start the singles round. With a 2-0 lead, the rest of NC State’s players grinded out wins on their respective courts. Next to finish was No. 24 junior Amelia Rajecki on court two, who pulled out a 6-3, 6-2 win.
To clinch the match, Zyryanova grinded out a 6-4, 6-3 win on court six, closing the door on any hopes of an Eagles win in Raleigh. After the freshman’s win, No. 9 Smith earned her own straight-sets victory on court one in a 6-4, 6-4 decision.
The final two Wolfpack wins were much harder to come by, however. Junior Gina Dittmann played the only three-set match of the day, but she had strong first and third sets to ultimately win 6-0, 4-6, 6-2. The last match to fall was on court four, where No. 58 Rencheli fended off a comeback from her Eagle opponent. Rencheli was up 5-2 in her second set, but her opposition didn’t let the junior win so easily. Ultimately, she took her match via tiebreak, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).
After the sweep over Boston College, NC State can now fully turn its attention to UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke, two perennially-excellent college tennis programs whose matches with the Wolfpack are only heightened by the age-old rivalries between the schools.
“With those matches being so late in the schedule, they’re great opportunities for us,” Earnshaw said. “And I’m guessing it’s something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time now without trying to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
The No. 1 Tar Heels are by far the best team in the nation, and the No. 8 Duke Blue Devils are not to be trifled with either, setting up for some of the best college tennis matches of the entire season.
“I think we’ve been looking forward to this weekend this whole semester,” Abrams said. “I think we’re all prepared. It’s gonna take the next few days to get our minds ready and our bodies ready, but I think we’re super excited.”
NC State’s showdown with the Heels in Chapel Hill is set for Thursday, April 6 at 5 p.m.
