The No. 30 women’s tennis team lost 7-0 to No. 17 Florida State on Saturday at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center. The Pack dropped to 9-8 in the year and 1-6 in the ACC. State has lost its last four matches, all to higher-ranked conference teams.
“It’s a little bit upsetting because we were fighting really hard to close matches, but it doesn’t go our way,” sophomore Lenka Hojckova said. “But if we just keep working like this one day we’re going to beat a better team.”
Though the Seminoles took the doubles points, it wasn’t without a fight. The doubles lineup was switched up a bit with Daria Petrovic, who typically plays with Hojckova, partnered with Sandhya Nagaraj at number two doubles. The duo defeated Jessica Sucupira and Federica Suess 8-2, marking the sole win for the match.
“I felt really good with Sandhya,” Petrovic said. “I think we go well together and complement each others shots.”
Berkeley Brock and Hojckova lost 8-2 at number one and Diana Mortlock and Chloe Smith lost 8-5 at number three.
The Pack had difficultly refocused after losing doubles. State lost singles on every court. According to coach Hans Olsen, this is a problem that the team has been working on.
“I think it’s a hump we have to get over,” Olsen said. “[We’re working on] losing the doubles point and still winning the match, and we haven’t done that yet.”
On the singles court, Suess defeated Smith 6-2, 6-2 and Brock lost to No. 89 Francesca Segarelli 6-3, 6-4 to give Florida State the victory.
Despite the shutout loss, Olsen said the team played well.
“They played their hearts out and we just had a lot of positive things to take from today—great mindset, great team effort,” Olsen said. “We just have to keep taking the positives from each match.”
On the number four court, Petrovic’s match was close in both sets, yet she failed to finish it out. Petrovic lost 7-5, 7-5 to Amy Sargeant.
“I just didn’t close it out as well as I wanted to,” Petrovic said. “I didn’t get some first serves in like I wanted to.”
At number two, Hojckova ended up splitting sets, the only match to play a third set. Yet the match resulted in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 loss.
“I played well the whole match but she came with the tough shots at the important moments which helped her win the second and third sets,” Hojckova said. “I was kind of upset because this is the third time I’ve lost to her in a three set so I really wanted to win.”
According to Petrovic, the match against Florida State was hard-fought and the team still has high hopes for the season.
“It was really competitive,” Petrovic said. “It was really close and the score didn’t show it.”
The Pack will look to bounce back next week as it takes on Virginia at home on Saturday, April 10 at noon.
