NC State women’s tennis is back in the Sweet 16 with its 4-2 win over Iowa State. The team will now head to Lake Nona, Florida for the remainder of its NCAA Championships run.
The doubles point was vital to NC State against an opponent that excels in singles play. Iowa State kept it close early, but NC State was able to grind out a pair of sets. The first win came from No. 5 senior Jaeda Daniel and fifth-year Adriana Reami. The pair won their set, 6-2.
With the Wolfpack a game away from victory in its two remaining sets, it just felt like a matter of time until it clinched the doubles point. No. 12 fifth-year Anna Rogers and junior Alana Smith did take advantage of their lead, beating their opponents to secure a 6-4 victory and the doubles point for the Pack.
Things started to tighten up in singles play. The Pack dropped two of its six first sets, including No. 6 Rogers who struggled for much of the day. Rogers surrendered the day’s first singles match, losing 3-6, 1-6. No. 23 Smith answered right back and won her match 6-1, 6-3 and gave the lead back to the Wolfpack. The Pack split the next pair of matches as freshman Abigail Rencheli won her match 6-2, 6-2 and Reami lost 3-6, 4-6.
With the score at 3-2, NC State needed to pull out one of two close matches. Senior Lexi Keberle and Daniel were locked in tight matches and at risk of dropping their second set. The nerves appeared high for everybody except head coach Simon Earnshaw.
“I felt like we were making both matches closer than they needed to be and I always felt like we had a run of games in us at some point, it was just a matter of when,” Earnshaw said. “Obviously I didn’t want that run of games in the third set if we could avoid that.”
With the match on the line, Daniel kept her cool and pulled out the second set to win her match 6-4, 7-5. This win was especially impressive given Daniel’s opponent was leading 40-0 while ahead in the set 5-3. From that point, Daniel rattled off four straight points to break her opponent and won the three following games to clinch the match and the 4-2 victory over Iowa State.
“I was just telling myself what I knew we’ve worked on and the things I’d been struggling with through the match,” said Daniel. “I knew the team was counting on me and Lexie to pull something out so I just tried to focus on them and put a few points together.”
Everyone was excited about the win but only a few minutes after the match, Earnshaw was looking ahead and wanting a bit more from his team.
“I think we felt a bit of pressure today to get back to this point,” Earnshaw said. “You know with it being two years since we advanced to this point and having been in position waiting. Day after day, week after week for two years. In some ways, the weight of expectations was a little difficult but now we’re back through again, I expect we’ll play well and a bit freer.”
The Pack’s Sweet 16 matchup is set for Saturday, May 16 and the Wolfpack will face either Florida or Southern California.
