Friday, March 11
Long Beach, Calif.
5 PM ET/2 PM PT
NC State
at
Long Beach State
No. 31 Wolfpack Faces Pair of West Coast Opponents
3/9/2016 1:45:00 PM | Women's Tennis
No. 31 women's tennis faces Long Beach State Friday and No. 17 Pepperdine Saturday
| #31 NC State (8-3, 2-2 ACC) at Long Beach State (7-2, 3-0 Big West) |
| Friday, March 11 |
| 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT |
| Long Beach, Calif. - Rhodes Tennis Center |
| #31 NC State (8-3, 2-2 ACC) at #17 Pepperdine (7-1) |
| Saturday, March 12 |
| 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT |
| Malibu, Calif. - Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center |
| Live Stats |
RALEIGH - No. 31 NC State women's tennis travels cross-country to face a pair of California opponents this weekend. The Wolfpack will face Long Beach State (7-2, 3-0 Big West) Friday afternoon followed by No. 17 Pepperdine (7-1) Saturday.
PACK RISING:
Last weekend the Wolfpack collected back-to-back conference wins highlighted by a 5-2 defeat over No. 24 Syracuse in its ACC home opener. As a result the Red and White was listed No. 31 in the latest national poll by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), its highest ranking earned under head coach, Simon Earnshaw.
RELATED STORY: NC State Breaks into Top-35
Martina Frantova improved to No. 61 among the singles rankings and is set to face a pair of players also on the national radar in this weekend's duals.
SCOUT REPORT:Long Beach holds a three-year undefeated record in the Big West, totaling 32 straight wins against conference opponents. The Beach's roster includes a ranked doubles duo along with three-time Big West Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week, No. 66 Maeva Razakosoa.
IN-DEPTH: Long Beach State season statistics
At the last meeting between the Pack and 49ers in 2013 the Wolfpack collected a 6-1 victory over the former No. 46 LBSU to improve its team rank 29 spots to No. 45 in the following week's national poll.
No. 17 Pepperdine presents No. 31 NC State with some of its toughest competition of the season. The Waves roster includes No. 12 and No. 29 doubles duos and No. 2 Luisa Stefani, a freshman on a 14-match win streak and an 8-0
dual record against nationally ranked opponents.IN-DEPTH: Pepperdine season statistics
Pepperdine has yet to take part in WCC competition since the start of the 2016 season but has compiled a 3-1 record against Top-30 opponents, including a 4-3 win over No. 4 USC.
SIMON SAYS:
"One of the tough parts with getting a weekend off from ACC play is deciding what to do with that spot on the schedule. I know there are probably countless differing opinions on what is best but for me we need to keep playing, keep going with everything, get some more tough matches in and, if possible, give the girls some experiences above and beyond what we see in conference.
"It's been great to see this team rise in the rankings since the start of the season, The better we do the more motivated everyone is to work even harder and the stronger the belief is in our process. We are a team and a program with a lot to prove and need to keep playing that way. I am very confident that we can be much better and I'm looking forward to seeing that play out over the course of the rest of the season. Long Beach State and Pepperdine are perennial tournament teams year-in year-out and I'm sure both will be extremely tough outs. We'll be ready to play, then it's just going to be a question of continuing the will to fight through as a team no matter what. Go Pack!" - Simon Earnshaw, head coach
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