As sophomore Elin Stahl-Johansson finished her victorious match under shadows cast along the Curtis and Jacqueline Dail Outdoor Tennis Stadium, the sun had set on N.C. State, as Wake Forest already owned the match.
No. 50 State dropped its first home conference match as it fell 5-2 to Wake, who was No. 18 in the national rankings.
Top seed Barbara Orlay started 6-1 in her first set, but the frustrated senior slammed her racket onto the ground as she fell behind late in the second set, losing it 1-6 and also the tiebreaker 10-3.
“It was a really windy day, and her style was really high and had kind of a slow topspin; so I thought it would be better if I played the same style as her,” Orlay said.
The singles matches proved to be highly competitive, but only freshman Shona Lee and Stahl-Johansson walked off the court with wins. Julia Roach, Nandita Chandrasekar, and Alejandra Guerra joined Orlay in losing efforts.
“Shona had a great match. She’s played a lot of tight matches; it was nice to see her play a tight one and break it out,” assistant coach Matt DuBois said. “Same with Elin; she just competed hard and stayed with it.”
Lee, the team’s second seed in singles, knocked off the No. 51 player in the nation 7-5, 6-1. Lee’s Demon Deacon opponent remained visibly and even audibly upset throughout the match.
“Personally . . . being patient and aggressive when I needed to helped me to play my game,” Lee, a New Zealand native, said. “By being patient and making her hit a lot of balls – not giving her any space points – it annoyed her.”
The freshman has contributed quite an impact, improving her record to 6-4 in singles.
“I’m really happy with how I’ve done,” she said.
Wake (7-3), who boasts three ranked players and a top-40 doubles pairing, picked up its first conference victory of the year while the Wolfpack (10-4) are still searching for theirs.
The No. 30 doubles tandem of Orlay and freshman Guerra lost 8-3 to the No. 32 duo in a mild upset. Likewise, State lost the other two doubles matches 8-5 each as the Deacs took the doubles point.
“I like how we’re playing doubles; we’re going to get the doubles point almost every time we play, and I think as a team we’re competing very well,” DuBois said.
After playing six ranked teams in the past seven matches, the coaches are hopeful that recent games will strengthen the team as it goes through the rest of its daunting conference schedule.
“Right now, every school in the ACC is ranked,” DuBois said. “Our goal is to make it to the NCAA’s, and playing one of the toughest schedules in the country is only going to help us get there.”
