NC State women's tennis headed to Final Four
For the second time in four years, NC State women’s tennis is headed to the Final Four. The No. 3 overall seed Wolfpack had to battle back from the brink of elimination to upend No. 11 seed Iowa State, 4-3, in Orlando and advance to face No. 7 seed Stanford on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
College tennis duals begin with three doubles matches and the first team to win a pair gets a valuable team point. The NC State women’s tennis duo of star newcomer Diana Shnaider and veteran standout Alana Smith followed up Sophie Abrams and Abrigail Rencheli’s win with a 6-3 victory to clinch the point.
After that comes six singles matches, with each individual win counting for a team point. The first to four takes the dual.
Shnaider, the No. 7 overall singles competitor in college, quickly dispatched of No. 60 Thasaporn Naklo in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0. The next three results however all went Iowa State’s way, giving the Cyclones a 3-2 advantage on the needing just one more point to end what has been a dream season for NC State women’s tennis, which included the program’s first-ever ACC title during which the Pack took down Tobacco Road rival and top-ranked North Carolina in the championship bout.
However, junior Gina Dittmann was able to prevail 6-4 in a decisive third set at singles No. 6 to even the match at 3-3. That left junior Amelia Rajecki against Iowa State’s Miska Kadleckova to decide the match.
Top 10
- 1
Michigan vs. NCAA, Big Ten
300 UM players join lawsuit
- 2New
Paul Finebaum
'Harbaugh is a fraud'
- 3Hot
Ohio State investigation
Defensive coach on leave
- 4
Shot at Saban
Tony Vitello jabs GOAT
- 5Trending
Top 10 Coaches in CFB
J.D. PicKell ranks college football coaches
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Rajecki, ranked No. 26 nationally, had taken the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6. However, a late break on Rajecki’s serve in the second set by Kadleckova forced a decisive third. Rajecki dropped the first two games of the set to fall behind 2-0, but she then won the next four to take the momentum back for NC State.
An ace clinched a 6-4 win in the set, sealing the match and in the process a 4-3 team victory for NC State women’s tennis.
The win was NC State’s 14th over a top-25 team this year and 10th in a row for the Wolfpack, who is 27-4 in duals. Two years ago, the Pack reached the first Final Four for NC State athletics since women’s basketball in 1998. Once there, NC State lost to eventual national champ Texas in 2021.
NC State women’s tennis has never faced Stanford, who advanced to the Final Four by upsetting No. 2 overall seed Texas A&M. The other side of the bracket ended up being chalk, with top-seeded UNC facing No. 4 seed Georgia.
