NC State
Duke Winter Classic
NC State Wraps Up Season Opener at Duke Winter Classic
1/11/2021 8:26:00 PM | Women's Tennis
DURHAM, N.C. – The NC State women's tennis squad wrapped up season-opening action as it competed at the Duke Winter Classic on Sunday and Monday. The event marked the first official collegiate competition for the Pack since March 8, 2020.
Over the course of the two days of individual action, the Wolfpack collected 11 singles victories and nine doubles wins. Seven of NC State's letterwinners from last season made their return to the court, and freshmen Abigail Rencheli and Amelia Rajecki played their first matches in a Wolfpack uniform.
The Wolfpack won nine of its 12 doubles matches at the event, highlighted by perfect 3-0 marks from two of its duos. Adriana Reami and Jaeda Daniel, who ended last year's shortened spring season with a national doubles ranking of No. 21, picked up right where they left off and tallied three victories at the Duke Winter Classic.
Lexi Keberle and Rencheli teamed up for the first time and also went unbeaten in doubles action on Sunday and Monday. Despite dropping their final doubles match of the event, Anna Rogers and Alana Smith also added a pair of victories to the Pack's résumé from the weekend.
Rogers won both of her singles matches on the weekend, defeating Duke's Margaryta Bilokin 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday and following up with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Meible Chi on Monday. Both of those matches would have been ranked matchups by last season's end-of-year ranking standards. Rogers is now up to 97 career singles wins at NC State and is looking to join teammate Reami as the second player in program history to reach 100 singles wins.
Rencheli and Rajecki both picked up their first career singles victories, with Rencheli putting together three impressive wins that spanned the two days. The freshman's last match of the weekend was a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 battle over Duke's Georgia Drummy, who finished last season ranked 28th nationally in singles. Rajecki's first win as a member of the Pack came in 6-1, 6-2 fashion over Tennessee's Tenika McGiffin.
Keberle, Daniel and Liz Norman also added singles victories at the Duke Winter Classic.
FROM COACH EARNSHAW
"I'm very thankful for the opportunity for the team to play again after nine months. It's been a real struggle to get to this point, and to represent the school and for each of them to see that was a very positive thing this weekend in difficult times. It looks like we have players in all different phases right now. We have some who hit the ground running. We have others who would be where you'd expect them to be at this point in the season, and we have others who have some work to do after the break. For doubles, overall we played well. Today, we looked better than we did yesterday. We were a lot more decisive and disciplined with how we were trying to go about things. In singles, I think fitness was a bigger factor on that second day. That's something that you can't really replicate in practice is match fitness and your ability to handle that with the stress of competition. It was very valuable for our players to have to go through that.
"Obviously, we had some standouts. I'm really proud today that we managed to pull out all three of those three-setters. Jaeda saved a match point in hers and pulled it through 7-5. Anna has seen Meible from Duke many times and not had the chance to play her, and she managed to stay strong on those big points in the third set. Abigail as a freshman, that's a huge win for her today against Drummy. She really got after it when the chips fell at the end of the match. I'm really proud of how those three reacted to the situation. We'll put it back together for the next go around. Overall, I'm just really proud that we have this chance to represent NC State and the Wolfpack. Go Pack!"
SINGLES FLIGHT 1
• Anna Rogers def. Margaryta Bilokin (Duke) 7-5, 6-3
• Chloe Beck (Duke) def. Alana Smith 6-4, 6-3
• Georgia Drummy (Duke) def. Jaeda Daniel 7-6 (3), 6-3
• Kelly Chen (Duke) def. Adriana Reami 6-2, 6-2
• Lexi Keberle def. Karolina Berankova (Duke) 6-4, 6-1
• Abigail Rencheli def. Ema Lazic (Duke) 6-0, 6-4
SINGLES FLIGHT 2
• Carly Briggs (UT) def. Amelia Rajecki 6-4, 6-2
• Liz Norman def. Tenika McGiffin (UT) 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
• Abigail Rencheli def. Daria Kuczer (UT) 6-1, 7-5
• Lana Mavor def. Esther Adeshina (UT) 6-1, 6-4
SINGLES FLIGHT 3
• Lana Mavor def. Hannah Zhao (Duke) 6-4, 6-2
• Rebeka Mertena (UT) def. Alana Smith 6-1, 6-4
• Chloe Beck (Duke) def. Adriana Reami 6-2, 6-1
• Amelia Rajecki def. Tenika McGiffin (UT) 6-1, 6-2
SINGLES FLIGHT 4
• Margaryta Bilokin (Duke) def. Lexi Keberle 6-1, 6-1
• Abigail Rencheli def. Georgia Drummy (Duke) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
• Callie Creath (UT) def. Liz Norman 6-3, 6-1
• Anna Rogers def. Meible Chi (Duke) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Jaeda Daniel def. Daria Kuczer (UT) 1-6, 6-2, 7-5
DOUBLES FLIGHT 1
• Adriana Reami/Jaeda Daniel def. Ball/Mertena (UT) 6-1
• Alana Smith/Anna Rogers def. Chen/Drummy (Duke) 7-5
• Lexi Keberle/Abigail Rencheli def. Kuczer/Adeshina (UT) 7-5
• Beck/Berankova (Duke) def. Liz Norman/Amelia Rajecki 6-0
DOUBLES FLIGHT 2
• Abigail Rencheli/Lexi Keberle def. Ball/Mertena (UT) 7-6 (4)
• Zhao/Lazic (Duke) def. Liz Norman/Lana Mavor 6-3
• Anna Rogers/Alana Smith def. McGiffin/Briggs (UT) 6-2
• Jaeda Daniel/Adriana Reami def. Beck/Berankova (Duke) 6-2
DOUBLES FLIGHT 3
• Lana Mavor/Amelia Rajecki def. Ball/Mertena (UT) 7-5
• Abigail Rencheli/Lexi Keberle def. Chen/Drummy (Duke) 6-2
• Jaeda Daniel/Adriana Reami def. McGiffin/Briggs (UT) 6-1
• Beck/Berankova (Duke) def. Anna Rogers/Alana Smith 6-4
The remainder of NC State's 2021 slate and dual schedule will be released at a later date.
#GoPack | @PackWTennis
Players Mentioned
