NC State wins program's first ACC women's tennis title
Posted April 23, 2023 5:16 p.m. EDT
Cary, N.C. — The NC State women's tennis squad made history with its first-ever ACC title victory on Sunday afternoon. Adding to the accomplishment, the fifth-ranked Wolfpack defeated rival, top-ranked and previously undefeated UNC by a 4-1 score to mark the program's first time beating the nation's No. 1 team.
Sunday marked NC State's first time appearing in the championship match at the conference tournament. The win was also the Pack's first over the Tar Heels in 25 years, as the team last earned a win over North Carolina during the 1998 campaign.
NC State and North Carolina met for their lone regular-season matchup less than three weeks ago, but Sunday was a different story with the Pack's top singles player, Diana Shnaider, rejoining her team and winning ACC Tournament MVP for her efforts throughout the weekend.
The Pack went ahead with a team point following doubles action and never allowed the Tar Heels to break into the lead during singles.
Eighth-ranked Nell Miller and Amelia Rajecki cruised through doubles action on court two with a 6-1 victory over No. 11 Carson Tanguilig and Fiona Crawley to put the Pack ahead. Sophie Abrams and Abigail Rencheli put up a great show of their own on court three with their 6-2 win over Reillly Tran and Abbey Forbes clinching the doubles point.
NC State got the rest of the job done with straight-set decisions from Shnaider, Rajecki and Abrams in singles action. Rajecki knocked off 21st-ranked Carson Tanguilig 6-3, 6-1 in a top-30 showdown on court three, and Shanider put the team a point away from the title with her 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Fiona Crawley, the nation's top-ranked player.
UNC got a point with a win on court two, but Abrams finished out the ACC championship victory by beating 95th-ranked Elizabeth Scotty by a 7-5, 6-1 score on court five.
The Wolfpack rides a six-match winning streak into the upcoming NCAA Tournament. NC State's record stands at 23-4, and the squad has secured 10 decisions over top-25 opponents this season.
NC State now awaits the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which is set to air on NCAA.com on Monday, May 1 at 6 p.m.
