The NC State women’s tennis team began its fall season this weekend, hosting the Wolfpack Invitational.
Mississippi State, Virginia Tech and Georgia State traveled to Raleigh for the three-day competition that began Friday at 9 a.m. at Dail Outdoor Stadium. NC State had several strong doubles performances throughout the weekend.
On day one of competition, the Wolfpack won six out of a possible seven doubles matches. Senior Joanna Nalborska and her doubles teammate, freshman Bianca Moldovan, snatched a victory against Katherine Butler and Kelly Williford from Virginia Tech 6-3. The pair also won its second doubles match of the day against Mississippi State’s Jasmine Lee and Madison Harrison 6-4.
Along with the three returning players from last season, the Wolfpack has gained some strong freshmen players, including Amanda Rebol from Cumming, Georgia, and Barbara Mancera from Mexico City, Mexico.
Both started off their first season on a high note.
“It’s awesome,” Rebol said. “I love the team atmosphere. It’s completely different than being all on your own. You have your whole team out supporting each other, screaming ‘Go Pack’ and everything. It’s just a really great experience.”
As freshmen, both players are still adjusting to the higher level of competition that the collegiate level provides.
“It’s definitely different,” Mancera said. “It’s been a great couple of weeks. It’s crazy playing with other people. You can still lose your matches and still be winning with your team. It’s just been a fun couple of weeks. Everybody fights for every point; there are no free points, and the energy is just completely different from junior tennis. It’s much tougher, and there are definitely no easy matches.”
Despite the fact that it is early in their college careers, the freshmen pair won its first doubles match with a 6-4 victory against Virginia Tech this past Friday. The second day of the tournament proved more difficult for the Wolfpack team as a whole, but Rebol and Mancera captured the only NC State doubles victory that day when they defeated Georgia State 6-2.
“We’re both really energetic and loud,” Rebol said. “We pump each other up and try to stay positive as much as we can.”
Although the two players have only played with each other during the past several weeks, they have formed a winning team dynamic with each other that is apparent both on and off the court.
“If one of us is down, the other one just pumps us up, and it’s good,” Mancera said. “We work really well together.”
In addition to the difficult second day in doubles, the Wolfpack also struggled with singles play during the Wolfpack Invitational. On Saturday, the women’s team lost all seven singles match ups against Mississippi State, while on Friday only two of a possible six Wolfpack singles matches ended up as wins against Georgia State.
“Singles was definitely tougher than doubles,” Rebol said. “From the very first point people are just going to completely battle. There’s no quit, no anything.”
As the Wolfpack continues its season Friday at the Duke Invitational in Cary, the team will look to improve in singles play while building upon its winning doubles pairings.
