It was always going to be hard for NC State women’s tennis to follow up on its program-defining 2022 season. A single-season high of 26 wins, a near-permanent stay in the top five of the national rankings, another trip to the NCAA quarterfinals and a doubles national championship headlined the Pack’s stellar campaign; perhaps its best one ever.
But head coach Simon Earnshaw and the red-and-white were just getting started.
If 2022 clearly defined the team’s upward trajectory, the Pack’s 2023 season solidified NC State’s place as a national title contender — a titanic force that was nearly unstoppable in its best season in program history.
All benchmarks recorded in the previous year were quickly beaten by Earnshaw’s revamped and determined squad in 2023. NC State won a whopping 28 matches — 21 of which against ranked opponents — and Earnshaw recorded his 900th career win as head coach.
However, it was postseason success and an epic three-match saga with No. 1 UNC-Chapel Hill that wrote the Wolfpack’s story this season. Just weeks after being chased out of Chapel Hill with a 7-0 loss, NC State did the unthinkable, stunning the rival Tar Heels 4-1 for its first ACC Championship win in school history.
It was a victory like no other. The Wolfpack had yet to beat UNC, who had undisputedly been the nation’s best team for years on end since 1999. But with droves of Carolina and NC State fans packing the nearby Cary Tennis Park to watch another rendition of the classic rivalry, the Wolfpack took its shot, not only beating, but crushing the Heels for its most memorable win in program history.
The tournament success didn’t stop there. With the conference championship trophy safely back in Raleigh, NC State gunned for the last remaining item on its to-do list: winning the NCAA Championship. The Wolfpack bulldozed its way through team after team on its way to Orlando, Florida. Once it got there, NC State pulled off a thrilling comeback win against Iowa State and knocked off a fearsome Stanford squad to punch its ticket to the final — its first appearance in program history.
But it was only fate that Earnshaw and the Pack would have to slug their way through one more round with the nation’s best, and their most bitter rival, to win it all. But in the end, it was the Tar Heels who got the last laugh. Carolina handed NC State a 4-1 loss in the final, ending the Pack’s hopes of returning home with more hardware for the trophy case.
Despite the loss, the Wolfpack still engineered its most successful postseason in program history. It’s first ACC Championship and first NCAA finals appearance speak for themselves, but NC State dominated a large majority of its opponents in both tournaments. It was a level of success that would have been impossible without the Pack’s lethal squad of talented players. But while the Wolfpack was virtually unstoppable by the time championship season rolled around, the red-and-white got off to a sluggish start months before all the smiles and confetti.
In just its third match of the season, Vanderbilt upset NC State when the red-and-white hosted in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend, disallowing the Pack to test its mettle and build its resume in the latter rounds of the in-season tournament. Back then, it was a big blow. NC State was in need of a spark, especially with more top-ranked non-conference opponents rolling into Raleigh before the always-challenging ACC play had even started.
Enter Diana Shnaider, the Wolfpack’s freshman phenom that made history before she even set foot on campus. Ranked in the top 90 players in the world and regularly participating and winning titles at Grand Slams, Shnaider was one of the best recruits in college tennis history. After finally getting on the court against then-No. 15 Oklahoma and then-No. 22 Tennessee in matches on back-to-back days in early February, her value to the team was evident.
From there, it was off to the races. Shnaider quickly assumed duties on court one, but she wasn’t the only one dominating match-in, match-out. Graduate student Alana Smith had a standout season in her final run with the Wolfpack. After being sidelined in 2022 with an injury, Smith cemented herself as an NC State great in 2023. The veteran earned her 100th career doubles win and her 100th career singles win on senior day before notching another All-American honor in the postseason.
Meanwhile, junior Amelia Rajecki held down court three all season long, breaking the program’s record for the most single-season singles wins. Rajecki carved out a run to the semifinal round of the NCAA Singles Championships, making her the first player in program history to make it that far. With Smith retiring her collegiate career, Rajecki is in position to lead NC State in its next season.
Behind her, juniors Abigail Rencheli, Sophie Abrams and Gina Dittmann all played their part in making NC State a formidable force for any team to face, both in doubles and singles. Even with a group of sensational seniors to lead the charge next year, NC State has the No. 5 incoming freshman class for 2024.
NC State would go on to down many more top-ranked squads, most notably then-No. 2 Ohio State, then-No. 9 Virginia and, of course, No. 1 UNC. The Pack churned through the challenging ACC part of its schedule before entering the postseason, and the rest was for the record books.
While the losses of Smith and fifth-year senior Nell Miller will be tough to overcome, NC State is shaping up to have its core group of juniors peak in 2024. Earnshaw has built a program to last, and with even more talent on the way, the Wolfpack will be right back to competing for more titles.
Trophy or not, NC State is in the mix as one of the best teams in the nation. It’ll be hard to eclipse the monumental success NC State found in 2023, but Earnshaw and company have done it before, and can certainly do it again.
