NC State women’s tennis returned home to J. W. Isenhour Tennis Center after back-to-back road matchups, where it played host to the Clemson Tigers and the No. 13 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
While the Wolfpack (7-3, 2-2 ACC) tamed the Tigers (6-7, 0-5 ACC) easily to the tune of a 7-0 score line, it was stung by the Yellow Jackets (10-6, 3-2 ACC) 4-3, leaving NC State 1-1 on the weekend.
The weekend’s action started with a dominant performance against the Clemson Tigers. The Wolfpack dropped only one point in the games it won en route to earning an easy double point. The pairing of fifth-year Anna Rogers and junior Alana Smith won its matchup 6-1, while freshmen Abigail Rencheli and Amelia Rajecki did even better by winning 6-0.
Clemson didn’t fare any better for the rest of the afternoon, and NC State dropped just one set in singles play. Five of six Wolfpack players won in straight sets, including Rogers and Rencheli.
They were joined by seniors Lexi Keberle and Jaeda Daniel, as well as fifth-year Adriana Reami. However, Smith experienced a bit of a scare after losing a tough first set 7-6 (7-3), but came back and won the tiebreaker 1-0 (10-8).
NC State faced its first significant challenge of the weekend the next day against Georgia Tech. The Wolfpack lost a crucial double point to the Yellow Jackets; Smith and Rogers narrowly lost 6-4 while Reami and Daniel lost an even closer set 7-6 (7-3).
In singles play, the Wolfpack went toe-to-toe with the Yellow Jackets. Reami, Daniel and Keberle won their singles matches, but every time the Wolfpack tied things up, the Yellow Jackets would get the lead again. After Keberle won 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), the score was tied 3-3 going into the final match of the day. Rencheli was able to squeeze out a 7-6 (7-3) win in her first set, but wasn’t able to pull it out, losing in a tiebreaker to give Georgia Tech the 4-3 win.
NC State will take the court again next weekend when it takes on Louisville on Friday, March 12 at noon, and Notre Dame on Saturday, March 13. Those games will be played in Louisville, Kentucky, and South Bend, Indiana, respectively.
