Gina Guareno
Teams descended upon the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center Sunday from both the mountain and coastal areas of North Carolina — and both left N.C. State with 7-0 losses.
The Wolfpack (4-0) first played host to Western Carolina in the morning match, dispatching them quickly, then UNC-Wilmington fell in the evening match. Now four games into the season, coach Hans Olsen’s team has four shutouts.
“Wilmington was a better opponent than Western,” Olsen said. “I thought that [with] both matches, we did a good job in doubles and just picking up intensity and that was good to see. We’ve got to get more of that.”
Against a shorthanded Western Carolina, who only brought four players, the No. 1 doubles team of junior Allison Barry and senior Nandita Chandrasekar won 8-1, while junior Lauren Barry and freshman Arielle Von Strolley also won 8-1 at No. 2 doubles.
“The last couple of weeks have been really hard in conditioning,” Alejandra Guerra said. “We’re looking good for two matches in a day.”
All the singles wins came in straight sets, as a member of each class took a victory. Chandrasekar, one of two seniors on the team, junior Agustina Arechavaleta, and sophomore Elin Stahl-Johansson all won, 6-0, 6-0, while freshman Guerra prevailed, 6-1, 6-0.
“The girls showed confidence with their fitness and gives them the confidence to be out there however long it takes,” Olsen said. “They were fighting really well and mentally came ready to play today.”
Later that evening, the Pack had to fight through much more competitive matches from a Wilmington team coached by former State standout and head coach Jenny Garrity.
State got the doubles point after a hard-fought match with the pairing of Julia Roach and Elin Stahl-Johansson getting a tough 9-8 (7-5) tiebreaker.
“I got a little nervous; I tried to think of my footwork and tried to calm myself down. What was key was getting low returns,” No. 3 seed Julia Roach said. “I had a few first match jitters but after a couple of games I started to calm down a little bit.”
First seed Barbara Orlay won in straight sets in singles 6-2, 6-1. Orlay, ranked No. 90 nationally, had her opponent Lauren Hess on the run from side to side for much of the day.
“I didn’t feel my rhythm as well as I usually do; for me that’s the most important [thing],” Barbara Orlay said. “That’s my game style so that’s how I usually play.”
Guerra and Von Strolley were the only two players to compete in both matches. Guerra said the extra experience is helping the young players.
“Not everyone is used to playing a left-handed player; you have to get accommodated to the way the ball bounces,” Guerra said. “As we start going and playing matches the confidence level is going up every time we play.”
Also winners against the Seahawks were No. 4 seed Niels Barringer, No. 5 seed Stahl-Johansson and No. 6 seed Von Strolley.
“We returned better on the court than we did last week,” Olsen said. “That’s still the thing we want to continue to improve. We served very effectively, [but] I would like to see them just a little more tougher on the returns.”
The Pack will once again have to face two opponents in one day on Saturday, Feb. 11. They will take on East Carolina first then Elon that evening.