The N.C. State women’s tennis team served up its season opener against East Carolina at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center Thursday afternoon, taking a victory from the Pirates.
The Wolfpack started off by taking the doubles point, giving the team an early 1-0 advantage. The Pirates did not make it easy for the Pack, however.
Sophomores Elisha Hande and Nicole Martinez jump-started State with an 8-2 victory at court No. 2 over opponents Yilian Zhang and Danielle Terpko. ECU fought back on the first court as Neena Wanko and Nicole LaDuca took an 8-6 battle over the junior Joelle Kissell and senior Tatiana Illova of the Wolfpack.
The deciding match came down to senior Chloe Smith and sophomore Sophie Nelson, who took a late 8-6 victory over the Pirates’ Melis Tanik and Dana Gray, giving State the 1-0 match lead.
Things did not get better for the Pirates from there.
“I think everybody probably felt more and more comfortable as the day went,” head coach Hans Olsen said. “It was the first match so everyone probably had a little bit of nerves and excitement to work through. I think it was just one of those things where the day just got better and better as the day went.”
No. 33-ranked Kissell bounced back from her doubles loss and blasted Zhang on the top court, 6-0, 6-0.
“I just came out with a new mindset,” Kissell said. “I just tried to relax and have a bit of fun in this match and work on what I’ve been working on in practice. When I came out on that first point, I was a different player, and I just kept rolling on it.”
Illova did the same on court No. 4, taking down LaDuca by a 6-1, 7-5 count, giving State a quick 3-0 advantage. Hande continued to dominate, sweeping her match in 12 straight games, 6-0, 6-0, against Terpko, securing the win for the Wolfpack.
“I was pretty relaxed through the whole thing,” Hande said. “It’s really exciting about the season starting. The whole team was working together really well.”
Junior Christy Sipes dropped her first set, 4-6, and fell behind 2-5 in the second set. Her opponent, Wanko, was two points away from winning the match when she suffered severe leg cramps, allowing Sipes to storm back and take the match in a third set tiebreaker.
Senior Chloe Smith was next off court, quickly finishing off her opponent by a 6-2, 6-1 score on court No. 6. Sophomore Nicole Martinez finished things off for the Pack, taking a three-set victory to give State the sweep, 7-0.
“It was a great opportunity to see where we are as a team and it showed a lot of good things,” Olsen said. “I like seeing the way our players dealt with some adversity.”
“I think we learned a lot today,” he said. “And credit to East Carolina. I thought they played really well.”
The N.C. State netters will return to action Thursday at 4 p.m. as they take on UNC Greensboro at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
