North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Opens ACC Tournament Against Virginia Tech
4/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 22, 2014
ACC Tournament Central | Live Scoring
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State women's tennis team will open play in the ACC Women's Tennis Championship this Wednesday, April 23, when it takes on No. 11 seed Virginia Tech at noon at the Cary (N.C.) Tennis Park.
The winner will advance to Thursday's second round and face No. 6 seed Georgia Tech at 3 p.m.
• The All-Time Series: No. 14 seed NC State (8-13, 2-12 ACC) owns a 20-4 lead in the all-time series against Virginia Tech (12-12, 4-10 ACC), and has won 14 of the last 16 meetings between the two. The Pack fell to the Hokies, 5-2, in their March 23 matchup in Raleigh.
In that match against Va. Tech, Wolfpack senior Joelle Kissell moved into second place on the all-time career dual singles victories list at NC State after defeating No. 66 Ilinca Stoica, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in match that lasted nearly three and a half hours. With both players battling fatigue, Kissell staved off two break points in the second set to take the match to a third and final set. Once there, Kissell outlasted the No. 66 ranked player to secure the singles win for the Pack and garner her 58th singles win all-time.
• Re-Writing The Record Books: Kissell set the new all-time NC State women's tennis dual singles record on April 18 with her 6-2, 6-4 win over Audrey Ann Blakely, highlighting a 6-1 victory for the Wolfpack over the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Kissell's mark of 60 dual singles wins eclipsed Jenny Sell's mark of 59 set in 1992 for the most all-time in NC State women's tennis history. She later added to that mark on April 20 versus Maryland with a 7-6 (8-6), 0-6, 6-4 win over Alexandra Stanova at the No. 1 singles spot. Kissell, a two-time All-ACC selection, NCAA Singles Championship selection and ACC All-Academic Team selection, also ranks fourth all-time at State in career dual doubles victories with 44.
• Baker Street: Rachael James-Baker currently leads the team with 12 dual singles victories. James-Baker, who has won three straight matches, holds two of four victories over ranked opponents for the Wolfpack in singles play this season, a 6-4, 6-3 win over then No. 82 Kelli Hine of Missouri, and a 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 42 Quinn Gleason of Notre Dame, the highest ranked singles opponent a member of the Wolfpack has defeated this year
• Ashe Wednesday: Junior Elisha Hande has been chosen as one of 10 female finalists for the 2014 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award as announced by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education magazine. Hande was selected from over 600 outstanding minority student-athletes who were nominated for the prestigious honor.
• Last Matchup: No. 59 Virginia Tech 5, No. 57 NC State 2 (March 23, 2014 - Raleigh, N.C.)
Singles competition
1. Joelle Kissell (ST) def. #66 Ilinca Stoica (VATECH) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
2. Francesca Fusinato (VATECH) def. Rachael James-Baker (ST) 6-1, 6-4
3. Kelly Williford (VATECH) def. Nicole Martinez (ST) 6-0, 6-2
4. Raluca Mita (VATECH) def. Liza Fieldsend (ST) 6-1, 6-4
5. Sansitha Nandakumar (VATECH) def. Natalia Janowicz (ST) 6-3, 6-1
6. Carol Kahoun (VATECH) def. Elisha Hande (ST) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-4)
Doubles competition
1. Ilinca Stoica/Kelly Williford (VATECH) def. Elisha Hande/Nicole Martinez (ST) 8-2
2. Sophie Nelson/Joelle Kissell (ST) def. Raluca Mita/Carol Kahoun (VATECH) 8-6
3. Liza Fieldsend/Rachael James-Baker (ST) def. Sansitha Nandakumar/Tea Ivanovic (VATECH) 8-6
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,4,2,5,6,1)
Players Mentioned
