The women’s tennis team capped off a successful weekend at the Wolfpack Invitational this Sunday, boasting three individual finals victories and two doubles finals wins.
Freshmen Berkeley Brock, Daria Petrovic and Kristen Bleakley all won singles flights to lead the Pack to the win. Multiple times the Wolfpack women defeated fellow teammates to claim their tournament victories.
According to head coach Hans Olsen, the Pack was successful due to stellar individual performances and much improved doubles matchups.
“It has been a good weekend,” Olsen said. “The three freshmen definitely made a splash and I think they’re reaping the benefits of the fitness training. They’re becoming more confident. They look a lot more focused, a lot more solid and a lot more confident.”
According to Olsen, doubles play has been a point of emphasis and necessary improvement for the Pack. The dynamic twin duo of seniors Lauren and Allison Barry contributed greatly to the cause with a win in their doubles flight.
“It was a good weekend for the seniors”, Olsen said. “The twins won their flight in doubles. They had a good tournament and played really well. Between the two of them I saw some of the best doubles I’ve seen them play. It was much better doubles all the way around. I like these combinations, but it’s early and we’ll continue trying different things and see what works well.”
In singles play, it was not uncommon that two Wolfpack women faced off in the finals rounds. One such finals showdown featured Brock defeating fellow teammate junior Julia Roach. The atmosphere was similar to a practice scrimmage, but with more on the line.
“It was a little more laid back,” Brock said. “I wasn’t quite as nervous, but I wanted to win obviously.”
The competition at the Wolfpack Invitational quickly evolved into competition among teammates after other schools made early exits from the tournament. Bleakley said the competition among teammates was different this weekend because each team member is trying to win a spot in the top six for a spot in the U.S. Open Invitation in New York this weekend.
“It’s a little bit different because we’re competing to go to New York,” Bleakley said. “It kind of felt like we were at practice but more competitive.”
The Invitational was the last home match of the fall season for the Pack.
“The girls are a little bit more prepared now,” Olsen said. “I knew that our players were going to be tough to handle for these schools, and I think N.C. State players are going to be tough to get through in the conference. With each tournament we take another step forward. We didn’t win all of them this weekend but we won most of them.”
In the midst of the victory, Olsen had to leave the tournament on Friday as his wife was going into labor. According to Olsen, assistant Mait DuBois and the supporting parents carried the team’s load.
“We’ve had a lot of the players’ parents helping run the tournament,” Olsen said. “They’ve been great and they’ve been doing it for years. I felt very comfortable leaving, although I didn’t want to leave the team. We had a lot of support.”
