After a strong 6-1 road victory over No. 14 South Carolina on Jan. 20, the NC State women’s tennis team split a pair of matches to open up home play. On Sunday, Jan. 24, the Wolfpack lost a narrow match 4-3 against Northwestern, but bounced back Monday, sweeping No. 18 UCF 4-0 for its first home win of the season.
NC State consistently came up just short in its match against Northwestern. After the Wolfpack split the first two doubles sets, the Pack needed a win from the No. 2 pair of fifth-year Anna Rogers and junior Alana Smith to pick up the doubles point. Rogers and Smith had a 5-3 lead, but the pair from Northwestern rallied back to send it to a tiebreaker. Ultimately the Pack came up just short, dropping the set 7-6 (9) and the point to Northwestern.
Senior Jaeda Daniel lost her singles match 6-0, 6-1, as the Pack fell behind 2-0. No. 35 Rogers and No. 23 Smith each won their match in straight sets which tied the match at 2-2. After splitting the next two singles matches, the team victory came down to the final match. Freshman Amelia Rajecki played her opponent tough but ultimately came up short 6-4, 6-2. The loss gave NC State its first defeat of the season 4-3.
NC State was back on the court the following day as it looked to salvage one victory out of the weekend. To get a win, the Wolfpack would have to take down No. 18 UCF. The Pack came out strong, getting a quick point by beating UCF in the first two doubles sets. Rogers and Smith won 6-1, and the No. 16 pair of Daniel and fifth-year Adriana Reami won 6-4.
The Wolfpack won convincingly in singles play as well. Across all six matches, the Pack only dropped a single set. No. 23 Smith and No. 38 Reami won in straight sets to put NC State one point away from the victory. No. 35 Rogers needed three sets but ultimately won her match 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, to secure a victory for the Pack. While play was shut down after the clinching match, the Wolfpack left couple likely wins unfinished as all three singles matches remaining had a member of the Pack up a set.
