The No. 26 ranked women’s tennis team continued its winning streak Wednesday, blanking Richmond at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center, 7-0. After State defeat ACC foe Wake Forest on March 6, 5-2, the Pack surpassed all its competition over spring break, including wins over No. 67 College of Charleston, No. 28 Princeton and Winthrop.
On Tuesday, the International Tennis Association released its new rankings, moving State up 14 spots, from No. 40 to No. 26. The Pack is now 9-4 on the year.
“We had a really good spring break, winning three matches and came here and kept that going,” senior Daria Petrovic said. “It definitely built our confidence, every match we play we gain confidence.”
The Pack picked up an early lead, gaining the doubles point, winning on all three courts. The No. 42 doubles team of senior Berkeley Brock and sophomore Sandhya Nagaraj defeated Erin Clark and Helen Cunningham 8-6.
“In doubles I had a little bit of a slow start,” Brock said. “I wasn’t really feeling my shots and my volleys like I wanted to. But in singles I refocused and I came out really strong in both sets.”
Junior Lenka Hojckova and Petrovic defeated Kelly Tidwell and Isabel Arana, 8-6 to secure the doubles point. Sophomore Diana Mortlock and freshman Chloe Smith continued the sweep, taking down Sydney Grand and Alexandra Smyth 8-5.
“Everyone down the line played pretty solid today,” Brock said. “I think it improved after doubles into singles. Everyone really took some confidence from the doubles point and played well.”
In singles play, the Pack sustained its confidence and dominated on every court, winning every match in straight sets.
“We were all positive up and down the line,” Petrovic said. “We just came to do our job and just kept it simple and finished strong. Overall a great match.”
Petrovic defeated her competition first with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Grant, followed by Smith dominating Arana 6-2, 6-0. Brock’s 6-4, 6-0 victory over Cunningham gave the Pack the win. Mortlock and Hojckova won their matches 6-2, 6-1 and 6-4, 7-5 respectively.
State will return to ACC action for a tough road weekend lineup. The Pack travels to South Carolina to take on No. 9 Clemson at 11 a.m. on Saturday and No. 13 Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga at noon on Sunday.
“We’re getting back into that, ACC matches, but I definitely think we’re ready,” Brock said. “We’ve all been playing very well and are looking forward to it.”
