The N.C . State women’s tennis team lost both its weekend matches to ACC foes Georgia Tech and Clemson. Fresh off a win against Maryland, the Wolfpack came into the weekend with confidence and hoped to spring an upset before the weekend came to a close.
Saturday’s road trip against No. 25 Georgia Tech (11-10, 5-5 ACC) provided a stern test for the Pack.
The doubles point was tightly contested as all three matches came down to the wire. The Yellow Jackets claimed the No. 3 match 8-5, but State bounced back with junior Tatiana Illova and freshman Nicole Martinez winning No. 2 doubles by a score of 8-5. The team that Illova and Martinez beat was the No. 63 doubles pair in the nation and also marked the first ranked win for Illova and Martinez on the year.
“We didn’t even know that the girls were ranked,” Illova said. “After we figured it out after the match, we were really excited about it, but we didn’t know so we didn’t have any pressure on us, so we just played our own game.”
Georgia Tech eventually won the doubles point by beating the Wolfpack’s No. 1 doubles team, thus winning the doubles point and gaining a 1-0 advantage going into singles play.
Singles play was also tightly contested with four of the six matches going to either second set tie-breaks or a third set. Despite their best efforts, State’s only win came from the racket of sophomore Christy Sipes who defeated her opponent 6-0, 7-6 (7-4).
Georgia Tech won all the remaining singles matches and won the match 6-1. This loss moved the Wolfpack to a 7-14 (3-7 ACC) record.
“I thought we did some good things,” head coach Hans Olsen said. “The singles, I thought we came out strong on three courts and put some good pressure on them there. We had our chances but they got the win on five out of the six singles courts.”
The Pack then traveled from Atlanta to Clemson, S.C ., where they faced off against the No. 18 Tigers (15-8, 8-3 ACC).
Clemson started off by winning all three doubles matches to claim the doubles point and go up 1-0.
Illova’s singles win over her opponent, Klara Vyskocilova , was the highlight of singles play for the Wolfpack . Vyskocilova , ranked No. 63 in the nation, was the first ranked opponent Illova had defeated in singles play this year.
However, that was the high point of the day for the Pack as they lost all the remaining singles matches. Clemson won the match by a final score of 6-1, dropping the Wolfpack to a 7-15 (3-8 ACC) record.
“We didn’t get a good start in doubles,” Olsen said. “Once we settled down, then the team started playing better on the doubles courts. They [Clemson] were stronger than us on five of the singles courts today.”
Although the Pack came away from the weekend without a team victory, they certainly gained valuable match experience that can’t be duplicated in practice.
“We have been improving and playing better the last two weeks,” Olsen said. “I think especially that doubles has improved, the execution has defiantly been better.”
The Wolfpack women play next in the ACC Tournament at the Cary Tennis Park. State received a No. 9 seed to the tournament and its first round opponent is Boston College, the No. 8 seed. All first round matches will be played on April 19.
“We did a really good job fighting and competing against all these teams and we always had the chance to win,” Illova said. “I feel pretty confident coming into the ACC tournament and if we all are right there, at this moment we can beat any of these teams.”