At this point, NC State women’s tennis seems unstoppable, especially after earning its most impressive win yet against the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
The No. 9 Wolfpack (6-1) went blow-for-blow with the second-best team in the nation for four hours in the top-10 matchup. Despite falling behind 2-3, NC State claimed a 4-3 comeback victory thanks to some heroic efforts from freshman Diana Shnaider and graduate student Alana Smith, handing the Buckeyes (7-3) a loss in Columbus, Ohio.
Raleigh’s red-and-white squad claimed the early doubles point thanks to some clutch play by none other than Shnaider and Smith. With both teams splitting the first two courts – NC State’s coming via a 6-3 by the No. 5-ranked pair of junior Amelia Rajecki and fifth-year senior Nell Miller – it was up to the No. 23-ranked pair of Shnaider and Smith to finish the job. The duo did just that, knocking off their No. 11-ranked opponents in a tense tiebreak, 7-6 (7-1).
Roughly three hours later, those two once again delivered in the clutch. With the Buckeyes threatening to clinch, they stayed cool and each beat their respective ranked opponents to deliver NC State the come-from-behind win.
The No. 15-ranked Smith, made it 3-3 with a grueling 7-6 (13-11), 4-6, 6-2 win, one that she finished off with her second tiebreaker win of the day at the end of her first set before cruising through her third.
After the graduate tied the score on court one, it was all down to the No. 52-ranked Shnaider to decide the match. She pulled off her own grueling three-set victory against a ranked opponent to seal the deal, remaining undefeated in singles matches on the season with the 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3) win.
To begin the singles round, Ohio State got out to an early lead, but NC State quickly responded. The Buckeyes defeated freshman Anna Zyryanova 6-4, 6-1 to knot the contest up at 1-1. Soon after, though, the No. 17-ranked Rajecki got her own straight sets victory on court three, 6-4, 6-4.
The Buckeyes then pulled away from the Pack, winning matches on courts four and five over juniors Abigail Rencheli and Gina Dittmann, respectively. But Shnaider and Smith’s thrilling wins were already in the works and not long after, they overcame the 2-3 deficit to claim the Wolfpack’s fifth-straight win and fourth-straight ranked win.
With NC State rolling over its competition no matter the rank, it sets its sights on its first home match since Feb. 5. The red-and-white will square off with Georgia Tech on Friday, March 3 at 3 p.m. at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh.
