On Sunday afternoon cheering and support came from the baseline as well as from fans for the women’s tennis team. No. 40 N.C. State’s teamwork and support helped calm players’ nerves in the team’s season-opening match against Elon.
“Having teammates all around me helps pump me up,” senior Julia Roach said. “It helps calm the nerves, as the first match of the season, there are always some nerves.”
Yet the nerves didn’t show as State dominated Elon 7-0. According to sophomore Daria Petrovic, the match marked the long-awaited start to the 2008 season for all the women.
The Pack swept doubles, with each pairing winning its match. Catherine Grotz and Neils Barringers doubles match stood out in coach Hans Olsen’s eyes.
“They worked really hard to finish the match on their serve,” Olsen said. “They closed the door really well on a hard-fought match, and that really stood out in my mind.”
Olsen also commented that the team worked well at the net.
“They came out strong and quick at the net,” Olsen said. “As a team, our volleys were the best thing about our doubles.”
Sophomore Berkeley Brock was the first to walk off the court with a singles win, due to her opponent Deanna Bailey’s injury after the first set. Most of the other matches finished up with a win for State without much difficulty.
Roach and freshman Lenka Hojckova both had mentally tough matches. Roach won her first set 6-1, but found herself down 4-1 in the second.
“When I was down in the second set, I went back to what has been working for me, which is shot selection,” Roach said.
Roach came back and won the set and her match 6-1, 7-5.
Hojckova started off close as she was down 3-2 in the first set. It was Hojckova’s first college match, and for the young athlete the nerves were high.
“I was a little bit nervous,” Hojckova said. “But I was prepared, so I still played well.”
Hojckova’s match stayed close even though she won in straight sets.
“Lenka did a really good job mentally,” Olsen said. “She mentally is very strong.”
Overall Olsen said he was pleased with the first match results and play from all the women.
“For the first match, everyone came out there really strong, served well and moved well,” Olsen said. “It was good for us to see everybody play, what they are doing well and what we need to improve on.”
The next match for the Pack is on Friday against Davidson. Olsen plans to take the strengths and weaknesses of the Elon match to prepare for Friday.
“First we’re going to focus on what we’re doing well and take that up another level,” Olsen said. “Then sharpen up a few things that we saw in this match.”
DOUBLES No. 1 – Brock/Petrovic (NCSU) def. Bailey/Tucci (Elon) – 8-6 No. 2 – Roach/Hojckova (NCSU) def. Butcher/Kensrue (Elon) – 8-4 No. 3 – Barringer/Grotz (NCSU) def. Milian/Wahl (Elon) – 8-2
SINGLES No. 1 – #97 Berkeley Brock (NCSU) def. Deanna Bailey (Elon) – 6-1, injury No. 2 – Lenka Hojckova (NCSU) def. Paige Kensrue (Elon) – 6-3, 6-4 No. 3 – Julia Roach (NCSU) def. Anna Milian (Elon) – 6-1, 7-5 No. 4 – Neils Barringer (NCSU) def. Laura Graybill (Elon) – 6-0, 6-2 No. 5 – Kristen Bleakley (NCSU) def. Hayley Wahl (Elon) – 6-3, 6-1 No. 6 – Catherine Grotz (NCSU) def. Jessica Margolis (Elon) – 6-0, 6-2
Source: N.C. State Athletics
