Rencheli Punches Ticket to NCAA Singles Quarterfinals, Daniel and Miller Advance in Doubles
5/25/2022 4:59:00 PM | Women's Tennis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – For the second year in a row, NC State women's tennis will be represented in the quarterfinals of both the singles and doubles draws at the NCAA Championships.
Abigail Rencheli continued her incredible march through the NCAA Singles Championships bracket as the NC State women's tennis sophomore took down top-seeded and defending national champion Emma Navarro (Virginia) in the Round of 16 on Wednesday afternoon.
Jaeda Daniel and Nell Miller, the top-seeded duo in the doubles draw, followed suit with a win of their own as they beat 10th-ranked Carmen Corley and Ivana Corley (Oklahoma) 6-1, 3-6, 1-0 (8) on Wednesday night.
Rencheli came out victorious in a tight matchup that lasted over three hours and practically went the distance in each of its three sets. For the third time in three days of action at the tournament, Rencheli battled back from a set down to pull off the 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win.
Nothing like a deuce point break for the win!
— #6 NC State Women's Tennis 🐺🎾 (@PackWTennis) May 25, 2022
Back-to-back seasons with a singles quarterfinalist 😤
Abi joins former teammate Anna Rogers as the only two players in team history to advance this far in the singles bracket. pic.twitter.com/NqhJRk00N3
The Sarasota, Fla., native nearly forced a tiebreaker for the first set but was broken on deciding point. In the second frame, Navarro held serve to start but Rencheli fired off four games in a row to jump out to a lead. The players traded breaks in the middle of the set before Rencheli held serve to send the match into a deciding third frame.
Rencheli went up a break early, but Navarro broke back to even the score at 3-3. That was the last time the Virginia sophomore got on the board. Rencheli won the final three games of the third set, breaking to go up 4-3 and breaking at deuce and match point at the end.
The win was Rencheli's 30th in singles this year, making her the seventh player in program history to reach that plateau. The feat has not been accomplished by a member of the Pack since four players reached 30+ wins in 2019.
She moves on to face 26th-ranked Connie Ma of Stanford in the quarterfinals on Thursday. A win in that match would mark the deepest run in the singles bracket by any Wolfpack player in team history. No NC State player has ever reached past the quarterfinals at the NCAA Singles Championships.
It took a super tiebreaker for the final set, but Daniel and Miller kept their run through the NCAA Doubles Championships draw going. The duo cruised in the first set, allowing the Corleys to hold serve just one time. Oklahoma took the second set with a few breaks, but Daniel and Miller opened up a four-point lead in the tiebreaker and served the match out to close out the win.
Celly was TOO good 🤩
— #6 NC State Women's Tennis 🐺🎾 (@PackWTennis) May 26, 2022
The Wolfpack will be represented in the doubles quarterfinal for the third season in a row!#GoPack pic.twitter.com/HKeBKUdcgO
The NC State duo advances to take on 37th-ranked Anna Ross and Holly Staff (Vanderbilt). They are looking to tie Anna Rogers and Alana Smith (2021) as the only two Wolfpack duos to reach the semifinal round in the doubles draw.
Match times and any additional information will be communicated on the @PackWTennis Twitter account on Thursday morning.
#GoPack | @PackWTennis
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