NC State
Virginia Tech
No. 25 NC State Falls to Virginia Tech in Heartbreaker
4/15/2017 9:09:00 PM | Women's Tennis
BLACKSBURG, Va.- The No. 25 NC State women's tennis team fell to Virginia Tech Saturday night in a narrow 4-3 match. The loss moves the Wolfpack to a 17-8 (6-6 ACC) record while the Hokies advance to 11-10, 4-8 ACC.
"That was an incredible college match, I don't think that can be denied," said head coach Simon Earnshaw. "It was a great effort by both teams, particularly by the players that were there at the end.
"I think if you look at the match, we were a little slow starting and we were lucky to get the point in doubles. We need to come through the end there in doubles. In singles, we had a good advantage on courts five and six, and we knew the top positions would be tough ones, but we were able to build a lead.
"When you're on the road in the ACC there will never be easy circumstances, and I felt there were times today we let that get the better of us. I think when it came down to it, we didn't make a great start in the third sets of either of the matches that it came down to, but this team has tremendous amounts of heart and massive amounts of pride. We were able to dig deep and that got us to the position to win the match. We got to match point on both courts, but we just couldn't get through it at the end of the day.
"It's going to be a defeat that stings for a while, but I think it's going to be the experience from the circumstances that makes us a stronger team. We definitely understand what the application level needs to be in order to be successful in this league—I think you saw that today. And I know these girls are willing to put in the extra effort.
"We still have a very young team—we had two freshmen out there in the deciding matches. Last weekend against Syracuse they both won tiebreakers to win the match and today we lost them, which is unfortunate, but it's the way it goes. Now we have to regroup and move forward because we still have a ways to go in the season."
NC State 3, Virginia Tech 4
Match Recap
NC State started the match with a win in doubles. On court one, No. 14 Martina Frantova and Anna Rogers won their 13th straight match, taking down No. 52 Caroline Daxhelet and Francesca Fusinato by a final score of 6-4. In No. 2 doubles, Claudia Wiktorin and Bianca Moldovan defeated Elena Cerezo-Cordina and Natalie Novotna, 6-4, to send the team into singles with a one point advantage.
In singles play, NC State carried its momentum, winning two consecutive matches to move NC State's lead to 3-0. Moldovan cruised by Katherine Butler by a final score of 6-1, 6-2 to win in No. 5 singles and Rebol rattled off a 6-3, 6-0 win over Nancy Ghanem in No. 6 singles.
The Hokies responded, however, winning the next four matches in a row. In No. 3 singles, Wiktorin fell to Cerezo-Cordina, 4-6, 1-6. In the top singles position, No. 52 Frantova was defeated by Virginia Tech's No. 96 Fusinato, 3-6, 4-6. On court two, Rogers battled through three sets but came up short in her match to Novotna, falling 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(6).
The match came down to No. 4 singles, where Adriana Reami battled Daxhelet. The match went into three sets and continued into a tiebreaker, where Daxhelet ultimately clinched the match for her team by a final score of 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(8).
Up Next:
The Wolfpack will return home for its final regular season matches next weekend. The team will host Georgia Tech on Friday, April 21 at 5 p.m. and Louisville at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 23 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
Tennis Match Results
NC State vs Virginia Tech
Apr 15, 2017 at Blacksburg, Va.
(Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center)
VT 4, NC State 3
Singles
1. #96 Francesca Fusinato (VT) def. Martina Frantova (NCSU) 6-3, 6-4
2. #95 Natalie Novotna (VT) def. Anna Rogers (NCSU) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (6)
3. Elena Cerezo-Cordina (VT) def. Claudia Wiktorin (NCSU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Caroline Daxhelet (VT) def. Adriana Reami (NCSU) 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (8)
5. Bianca Moldovan (NCSU) def. Katherine Butler(VT) 6-1, 6-2
6. Amanda Rebol (NCSU) def. Nancy Ghanem (VT) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. Anna Rogers/Martina Frantova (NCSU) def. #52 Caroline Daxhelet/Francesca Fusinato (VT), 6-4
2. Bianca Moldovan/Wiktorin (NCSU) def. Elena Cerezo-Codina/Natalie Novotna (VT), 6-4
3. Shene Disbergen/Sansitha Nandakumar(VT) vs. Amanda Rebol/Adriana Reami (NCSU) 5-2 unfinished
Match Notes:
NC State 17-8, 6-6 ACC; National ranking #25
Virginia Tech 11-10, 4-8 ACC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (6,5,3,1,2,4)
Players Mentioned
