The No. 12 NC State women’s tennis team lost 4-0 to No. 5 Duke in the program’s first-ever Sweet 16 appearance this Friday after defeating VCU and Tennessee in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
“Overall, it would be hard to say our season wasn’t a great success,” head coach Simon Earnshaw told NC State Athletics. “We pretty much hit every goal that we had. I told the girls after the match,’We should’ve set our goals a bit higher.’ We’ve come so far. We were just trying to get into the tournament.”
In doubles, No. 7 junior Anna Rogers and freshman Alana Smith started off the match with a strong 6-2 win over No. 46 Kelly Chen and Ellyse Hamlin, but the Pack was unable to grasp any more wins in doubles, giving the doubles point to the Blue Devils for an early 1-0 lead.
In singles, the Pack couldn’t get anything going, starting with No. 71 Smith falling to No. 33 Meible Chi. Shortly after, sophomore Liz Norman and junior Adriana Reami both lost in straight sets to seal a 4-0 Duke victory.
The close matchup between No. 10 Rogers and No. 11 Maria Mateas was halted, along with two other matches, before a winner could be awarded.
Duke was able to win the first three consecutive singles sets, leading them to the overall victory and sending them to the Elite 8 in Orlando, Florida to play the winner of USC versus South Carolina.
With the Pack’s loss in the Sweet 16, women’s tennis finishes up with a 24-7 record and a record-breaking season.
The Pack was able to break the program’s record for most conference wins, with 11 wins this year, compared to its previous record of seven. The team was also able to surpass its record for total wins of 19 with 24 overall wins this season and reached its highest program ranking this year, hitting No. 9 at one point during the season.
Although it ended in a loss, the Pack’s impressive season leaves the team, and fans, excited for next season.
Senior Amanda Rebol returns a volley against Duke on Friday, May 10, 2019 at Ambler Tennis Stadium in Durham. Rebol’s singles loss to Duke freshman Margaryta Bilokin was halted at 3-6, 1-4 during the Wolfpack’s 4-0 defeat to the Blue Devils. The Pack was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet Sixteen.
