Just three days after suffering its first lost of the season to North Carolina, No. 40 N.C. State bounced back to knock off No. 64 Marshall, 5-2, Sunday at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
The win improves the Wolfpack’s record to 9-1, and for coach Hans Olsen, it makes the team more stable heading into the middle of the season.
“This win is really important,” Olsen said. “This match today made us a stronger team. To bounce back and play at another level better, in terms of how we competed, I thought was really good.”
“It’s a real character-builder for us. It will make us tougher.”
State started off aggressively by sweeping the doubles matches against a Marshall team that had not lost the doubles point all year.
At the No. 3 doubles spot freshman Shona Lee and sophomore Julia Roach beat the Marshall duo of Jessica Keener and Jeanne Schwartz 8-6, while senior Nandita Chandrasekar and sophomore Elin Stahl Johansson knocked off the No. 26 ranked doubles team of Shannon Brown and Karolina Soor 8-4 at the No. 2 spot.
“We started off really well and had good intensity through the match,” Chandrasekar said. “We always know how important the doubles point is and we’ve been working on it in practice.”
Olsen said Chandrasekar and Stahl Johansson were prepared to face a tough opponent.
“They did a great job,” Olsen said. “They were ready to play today. They both had a really good frame of mind, ready to compete, and that makes all the difference in the world.”
The Pack completed the doubles sweep, getting a win at the No. 1 spot with the No.42-ranked team of senior Barbara Orlay and freshman Alejandra Guerra outlasting Lynzee Kever and Kellie Schmitt 8-7(6) in a match that took almost two hours.
Chandrasekar and Stahl Johansson were equally as strong in their singles matches, picking up wins at the No. 4 and No. 6 spots, respectively.
Stahl Johansson said that winning after a loss is important.
“It’s real good to come back and get a win right after a loss,” Stahl Johansson said. “We competed with Carolina, they just played really well.”
“This was a good win.”
Roach picked up a victory at the No. 5 singles spot by beating Schwartz in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. The win moved Roach to 6-0 on the spring season.
The most dramatic singles match of the day took place between Orlay and Kever at the No. 1 spot, with the outcome of the team match still in doubt. The match went three sets and lasted more than two hours as Orlay was to able to pick up the victory 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5.
Olsen said he was pleased with Orlay’s effort in the match.
“Barbara’s a tough competitor,” Olsen said. “She got a little bit away from the match mentally in the second set, but in the third set she was all business. I love the way she competed today.”
The team will next be in action Thursday at Duke.
