No. 5 UNC downs No. 13 Wolfpack women’s tennis, ends run for repeat title

CARY, N.C. — While NC State women’s tennis got the better of UNC-Chapel Hill one year ago in the ACC Championship, the Tar Heels reversed their fortunes at Cary Tennis Park against the Wolfpack in the 2024 conference tournament semifinals.

After beating the Heels in the rivals’ two prior meetings this season, Carolina (21-3) had the Pack’s (20-8) number in the postseason showdown. In the sides’ sixth meeting in the past two seasons, UNC earned a 4-0 win, ending NC State’s attempt for a repeat conference title.

Last year — on the same courts — NC State won the doubles and ran away with the match with early leads in singles. This go-round, UNC gave the Pack a taste of its own medicine.

After taking a contested doubles round, Carolina followed up on the early leads it established in the singles round. Despite a competitive level of play from NC State in singles, the defending champs could only play catch-up against the higher-ranked Heels.

“It just felt like we're always behind,” said head coach Simon Earnshaw. “Now that's not really been an issue when we played them the two times we played them previously this year, but for whatever reason — and we've seen this on other occasions — we just didn't really get our teeth into the match at a couple of spots where we needed to.”

To begin the round, Carolina’s No. 43 pair of Elizabeth Scotty and Anika Yarlagadda downed NC State’s No. 19 pair of senior Sophie Abrams and sophomore Anna Zyryanova 6-2. While they battled, seniors Gina Dittmann and Abigail Rencheli fell 6-4 on court three.

UNC successfully gained a 1-0 lead after turning one of NC State’s strengths into its own.

“I think we were not our normal level in doubles,” Earnshaw said. “I think in some ways, UNC has taken some elements of what we do and they've gotten better than us with the personnel that they have at it.”

From there, the Tar Heels took their advantage and ran with it, establishing sizable leads on most courts, aiming at a clinch as soon as they could. Despite No. 5 Rajecki blazing by UNC’s No. 7 Fiona Crawley in her first set, Dittmann winning her first 6-4 and Abrams gutting out a tiebreak victory, Carolina did what it needed to on the other three courts to keep NC State at bay.

“We just couldn't get the scoreboard going in our favor — at any moment,” Earnshaw said. “I think when it was the start of the second set, it just got away from us a little bit.”

By the time those second sets rolled around, NC State’s chances for a comeback victory was dwindling. Carolina kept its foot on the gas against Zampardo, No. 52 Zyryanova and No. 69 Rencheli. To win, NC State needed at least one of those players to flip the script on their courts and win a second set after dropping their first.

UNC simply refused to let that happen.

“It’s been a problem for us this year — we haven't done a good job of turning matches,” Earnshaw said. “...against UNC is awfully hard to do that against, but we haven't done a good job of it against opponents that I would say we should be favored. And you've got to be able to manage that in college tennis if you want to give yourself a chance.”

Zyryanova was the first to fall. The sophomore suffered a two-set loss in a 6-4, 6-0 decision to UNC’s No. 50 Carson Tanguilig. No. 27 Yarlagadda was next to dish out a defeat, beating Zampardo 6-2, 6-3 on court five to put UNC in clinch position.

Minutes later, the Heels’ No. 36 Scotty dealt the killing blow. Facing Rencheli on court two, she also won 6-2, 6-3 to send the Pack home.

However, it’s nowhere near the end of NC State’s season. As a host in at least the first weekend of the NCAA Championships in a couple of weeks, Earnshaw said the Pack has room to improve in multiple areas of its game. Besides upping its game in doubles, the head coach preached the importance of endurance in singles, especially as the weather gets hotter.

“Singles-wise, I think we just need to understand that being physical and hanging around and just being stubborn to make the right decisions when the weather gets warmer is a good strategy,” Earnshaw said. “Because if you can't do anything else, just outlast them.”

After another chapter in the storied rivalry between the Wolfpack and Tar Heels, NC State will wait to hear what opponents it will face in the first round of the NCAA tournament.