With the start of the spring semester underway, the women’s tennis team returns to the court for a new season. N.C. State is coming off of its third NCAA tourney bid in school history, and the team’s performance last year has helped the team start its season ranked No. 40 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Polls. The Wolfpack also boasts two players ranked nationally in singles. Sophomore Daria Petrovic is ranked No. 79 and sophomore Berkeley Brock is ranked for the first time in her collegiate career at No. 97.

Brock said that the team did well towards the end of the season but lost focus at some points.

“We still did alright,” Brock said. “We still played well as a team but I think we could have prepared better for NCAA’s.”

State has been working to improve on last years play, according to Petrovic. Petrovic said despite the youth of the team last season, the team is more experience this year and has worked a lot during the off season.

“We’ve been working on a lot of fitness,” Petrovic said. “We’ve been practicing really hard. We have our individual goal and our team goals. It’s all working out pretty well right now.”

As for expectations this season, Brock said the team wants to improve upon its post-season success this spring.

“[We’ll] try to improve on what we did last year,” Brock said. “So we lost a couple of players. I think that we are stronger as a team this year than we were last year so it should be good.”

Schedule-wise, the Pack will take on a number of ranked teams on the road, including No. 12 North Carolina and No. 17 Duke. Brock said the team is actually looking forward to playing Duke again, as the Pack defeated Duke last year for the first time in school history on State’s senior day.

Coach Hans Olsen said that he’s actually forward to playing the first match, against Elon this weekend.

“I think any time that you are headed into a new year, it’s exciting to get going,” Olsen said. “I think every match we play this year is going to be a very even match. Each time we play, it’s going to be tightly contested. The girls are going to have their chance to win every single time. So we’re just going to have to take it one match at a time and we’ll start this weekend.”

The team is returning five sophomores, and one senior, Julia Roach. The team also has one freshman, Lenka Hojckova.

Olsen said that Hojckova and Roach played doubles a few times last semester and said the duo offers a balance of experience with young energy.

“Julia is tremendous,” Olsen said. “She was a co-captain last year and she’s captain again this year. She’s a fierce competitor who brings a tremendous amount of energy and character to the team. Her growth in her tennis has gone up a notch every semester. She has a great commitment to the team, puts her teammates and her team ahead of herself.”

Olsen also gave high praise to Hojckova who he said has fit in with the team well.

“Lenka brings a fresh face to the team,” Olsen said. “She has a bubbly personality, laughs a lot and everything is new to her. She has that excitement that the five freshmen had last year.”

Petrovic said if the team’s effort is great, expectations for success will rise.

“We just want to play our best,” Petrovic said. “With that, results will come. And if we practice hard, results will always come.”