Location didn’t matter for the NC State women’s tennis team who handily beat VCU 4-0 after inclement weather moved the match indoors halfway through doubles play. With the win, NC State improved to 17-5 and will advance to the second round of the NCAA Championships.
In the second round, NC State will host Iowa State on Saturday, May 8 at 2 pm. The winner will advance to the round of 16 which will be held in Orlando, Florida.
Early on in the match, the Pack was able to overcome the transition to indoor play and take the doubles point. VCU challenged NC State early on, but the Pack was able to pull away by winning a pair of sets 6-3. The two sets were won by No. 5 senior Jaeda Daniel and fifth-year Adriana Reami and No. 12 fifth-year Anna Rogers and junior Alana Smith.
“It was a really good team win,” Daniel said. “I love when we get out there in doubles and everybody contributes in one way or another and we really just chug along as a team. To me that’s the best way to get through a match especially at this point in the season.”
NC State did not drop a single set in singles play. In the first match, NC State didn’t even drop a single game as Daniel won her match 6-0, 6-0 to give the Wolfpack a 2-0 lead over VCU. The two other matches that finished, were also won by the Wolfpack, but not in such convincing fashion. No. 23 Smith was the second to finish her match, winning 6-0, 7-5. With only one more point needed to advance, NC State would finish off VCU with Reami’s 6-3, 6-3 victory.
As the Wolfpack looks ahead to its next match, it will be facing a team in new territory. This season marks the first trip to the NCAAs for Iowa State. On top of its historic run, the Cyclones are coming off a victory over No. 24 South Carolina, which was the team’s highest-ranked victory in program history.
“I’m assuming they’ll just play like their hair’s on fire,” said head coach Simon Earnshaw. “We’re going to have to look like we looked for stretches in March and April and sort of find that mode and that ruggedness. We can’t take it for granted that we can just flip and switch and it’s there.”
With the quick turnaround, NC State has little time to celebrate. However, the quick nature of the NCAA Championships doesn’t appear to have anyone worried about rest.
“We know as a team what our identity is and what we do every single day at practice,” Daniel said. “I think that it’s really just a continuation of that.”
