N.C. State’s women’s tennis team opened its season in an emphatic manner, refusing to drop a single set in either singles and doubles play in identical 7-0 victories over North Carolina Central and East Carolina on Friday at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack started the day with its match against Central in the morning, kicking things off by easily taking the doubles point. Freshmen Liza Fieldsend and Natalia Janowicz were first off the court for the Pack, defeating Central’s Lynsey Cover and Tamara Jeremic, 6-3.
State’s No. 1 doubles team, consisting of juniors Nicole Martinez and Elisha Hande, finished next with a 6-2 win over Rebecca Wood and Ekaterina Nekrasova, and the No. 2 team of senior Joelle Kissell and junior Sophie Nelson completed State’s doubles sweep, defeating Mia Ramic and Aissa Muamba, 6-1.
The Wolfpack carried its momentum into singles play. Top seed Kissell was first off the court with an efficient 6-1, 6-1 victory over Wood, followed by Nelson’s 6-3, 6-0 win over Nekrasova at No. 3. Hande clinched the match for the Pack at her No. 4 slot by defeating Ramic, 6-2, 6-0.
“Today went really well,” Kissell said. “I wanted to get out there and go for my shots. It felt good to be on the court with my team again.”
Sophomore Rachael James-Baker, playing at No. 2 for the Pack, pushed that lead to 5-0 by knocking off Muamba, 6-2, 6-3, and Janowicz impressively blanked Jeremic, 6-0, 6-0. Sophomore Taylor Zaytoun finished things off for State by defeating Cover, 6-0, 6-3.
“Starts of points were really good,” head coach Hans Olsen said. “Our serves and returns were really on point and movement looked really good. Some of our players had to face a little adversity, but we settled ourselves down.”
It was more of the same for the Wolfpack in the nightcap against ECU. The Pack swept the doubles point for a second time, led by Kissell and Nelson’s 6-0 win over Dana Gray and Maria Storozheva, 6-0.
The other two matches were slightly more competitive, with Fieldsend and James-Baker defeating Melis Tanak and Emily Groeneveld of the Pirates, 6-3, and Hande and Martinez teamed up again to beat Michelle Castro and Nicole DeLuca, 6-4.
The Pack kept up its winning ways in the singles competition. Fieldsend was first off the court at No. 4, defeating Groeneveled, 6-3, 6-2. Martinez, playing at No. 3, made quick work of LaDuca, posting a 6-0, 6-2 win, and Kissell followed her off the court after defeating Tanak at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-0.
James-Baker sealed the match with the closest decision of the day, holding off Castro at No. 2 by a score of 7-5, 6-3. Hande defeated Storozheva, 6-0, 6-4 at No. 5, and senior Christy Sipes finished off the Pirates by defeating Gray, 6-2, 6-4.
“I think that we’ve been working very hard mentally and physically,” Olsen said. “It didn’t seem like a culmination of the preseason preparation, but rather a continuation of the process.”
The Wolfpack returns to action Saturday as it hosts Missouri. Match time at Isenhour is set for noon.
