No. 37 Pack Sets Tone in Doubles, Falls to No. 2 North Carolina

Wednesday, April 6

Chapel Hill, N.C.

3 PM

NC State

North Carolina

No. 37 Pack Sets Tone in Doubles, Falls to No. 2 North Carolina

4/6/2016 8:35:00 PM | Women's Tennis

NC State returns home to host three nationally-ranked opponents over the weekend

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Opposite its toughest opponent of the season, No. 37 NC State fell 6-1 to No. 2 North Carolina Wednesday afternoon. This was the Wolfpack's first of four nationally-ranked opponents its scheduled to face this week.

The Pack's record now sits 11-7, 4-5 ACC while the Tar Heels improve 22-2 and maintain its undefeated conference record, 10-0.

The Red and White started the match on a competitive note, narrowly dropping the doubles decision. Martina Frantova and Tayla Stenta faced the No.1-ranked duo of Hayley Carter and Whitney Kay, forcing the pair into a tiebreaker early on. Carter and Kay barely edged the Pack duo to capture a 7-6 (7-5) win over Frantova and Stenta.

In the final rivalry matchup of their collegiate careers, Taylor Zaytoun made her season debut in doubles play along with Joanna Nalborska. The senior duo presented No. 84 Kate Vialle and Jessie Aney with a high level of competition in the No. 2 doubles matchup, tied 6-6 at the time of the deciding finish.

For the fifth consecutive match, Claudia Wiktorin appeared No. 4 in the lineup where she net the sole singles win for the Wolfpack in the final finish of the rival dual. Wiktorin downed Chloe Ouellet-Pizer 3-6, 6-4, 14-12 to improve her singles record above .500, now 9-8 on the season.

SIMON SAYS:
"It's difficult to say that I'm happy with the outcome of today's match. We have to, and should, expect more against teams like UNC if we want to achieve program goals in the future. On the positive side, we did compete well in doubles, particularly at the top two positions. Martina and Tayla had a couple of match points at 6-5, returning against the No. 1 team in the country, and we should take some encouragement from that. It was also great to see Taylor get an opportunity and I enjoyed seeing her compete out there. All credit to her and everything she brings to this program. We are still a very young team, and it showed after doubles, in those circumstances our application level has to be much better in singles. We need to take this experience and use it to propel us into this weekend's crucial matches." – Simon Earnshaw, head coach

No. 37 NC State returns to action on the home court Friday to host No. 69 Florida State followed by its third and final doubleheader of the season, welcoming No. 7 Miami and No. 70 Winthrop Saturday.

SINGLES:
1. #1 Hayley Carter (NC) def. #38 Martina Frantova (ST) 6-2, 6-1
2. #30 Whitney Kay (NC) def. Joanna Nalborska (ST) 6-1, 6-3
3. #62 Jessie Aney (NC) def. Tayla Stenta (ST) 6-1, 6-2
4. Claudia Wiktorin (ST) def. Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (NC) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (14-12)
5. Marika Akkerman (NC) def. Barbara Mancera (ST) 6-3, 6-4
6. Cassandra Vazquez (NC) def. Taylor Zaytoun (ST) 6-0, 6-0

DOUBLES:
1. #1 Hayley Carter/Whitney Kay (NC) def. Martina Frantova/Tayla Stenta (ST) 7-6 (7-5)
2. #84 Kate Vialle/Jessie Aney (NC) vs. Joanna Nalborska/Taylor Zaytoun (ST) 6-6 (4-2), unfinished
3. Ashley Dai/Chloe Ouellet-Pizer (NC) def. Barbara Mancera/Claudia Wiktorin (ST) 6-2

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