The past week started slow for NC State athletics, but the weekend saw many Wolfpack teams competing for wins. From two upsets in South Carolina to improvements in ACC play, the red-and-white had one of its winningest weeks to date.
Men’s basketball goes 2-0 in ACC play
After going 0-2 the previous week, the Wolfpack looked to get back in the win column as it hosted Miami and Georgia Tech.
Graduate guard DJ Horne shined against Miami, finishing the game with 24 points and four rebounds while graduate guard Casey Morsell totalled 17 points. With a final score of 74-68, the Pack looked like a brand new team.
It was a similar story against Georgia Tech a few days later — NC State defeated the Yellow Jackets 82-76 with its momentum from the Miami game. Horne and junior guard Jayden Taylor hit clutch shots for the Pack, leading the team on crucial scoring runs when it counted the most.
Read more about the dominant performance over Miami here.
Read about the win over the Yellow Jackets here.
Then-No. 5 women’s basketball grabs win over Tar Heels in “small gym”
Then-No. 5 NC State women’s basketball defeated in-state rivals UNC-Chapel Hill 63-59 in Reynolds Coliseum on Thursday. This win marked the Pack’s 14th-straight win at home and fifth-straight win against the Tar Heels in Reynolds.
Four Wolfpack players tallied points in the double digits, led by graduate forward Mimi Collins and junior guard Saniya Rivers with 14 each. Freshman forward Maddie Cox and freshman guard Zoe Brooks proved their rookie talents by contributing 15 points off the bench. Led by junior guard Aziaha James in the final quarter, the Pack took the win and now sits at third in the ACC standings.
Read more about the rivalry win against UNC here.
No. 8 wrestling takes down UNC in 11th-straight series win
The Pack’s dismantling of UNC-Chapel Hill in Reynolds continued 24 hours later, with NC State wrestling defeating the Tar Heels 33-6 on Friday. Despite losing two of the first three matchups, the Pack came back and won its next seven to secure the win.
No. 14 redshirt sophomore Derek Fields got the Pack on the board first, winning his 165-pound matchup to put the red-and-white up 4-3. The night finished with No. 3 sophomore Jackson Arrington winning the 149-pound group and earning NC State’s eighth win of the night.
Read more about the Packs’ takedown against UNC here.
Swim and dive dominates UNC-Wilmington on senior night
NC State swimming triumphed over UNC-Wilmington on its senior night. The No. 3 men’s squad dismantled the Seahawks 172-104 while the No. 10 women dominated 181-89.
After recognizing 23 seniors before the meet, four pool records fell starting off with senior Noah Bowers in the 200-yard butterfly and fifth-year senior Noah Henderson in the men’s 50-yard freestyle.
The most memorable event of the night came from senior Conall Monahan. Setting a new pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke is no easy task, with the previous record being held for nine years. Monahan broke the record with a time of 1:55.54 and qualified for the NCAA B standard.
Read more about swim’s impressive senior night here.
Men’s tennis splits matches, upsets No. 2 South Carolina
In its biggest win in program history, NC State men’s tennis took down the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks 4-3. This momentum didn’t hold over for the Pack though, with the team falling to Columbia 3-4 a few days later.
Doubles wins from two of the Pack’s pairs gave it the edge while singles wins from sophomore Martin Borisiouk, junior Braden Shick and senior Luca Staeheli gave the Pack the win.
A few days later, the Pack returned back to Raleigh to take on another ranked opponent — No. 9 Columbia. The Lions weren’t an easy target, pulling off a reverse sweep to stun the Wolfpack.
Read more about men’s tennis’ upset over South Carolina here.
Read more about the loss to the Lions here.
Gymnastics upsets No. 20 Clemson
Upsets in South Carolina became a theme this weekend with NC State gymnastics securing an upset of its own against Clemson. Defeating the Tigers 196.300-195.600, Pack gymnastics went into the meet with something to prove. All six NC State gymnasts scored 9.725 or above on the uneven bars, with graduate student Emily Shepherd taking the crown with a 9.850.
The Pack secured the vault event title with a 9.875 from graduate student Chloe Negrete but still fell behind the Tigers after two rotations. It wasn’t until the red-and-white’s third rotation — the floor event — where the Pack took the lead and never looked back. With a season-high team score of 49.350 on the floor, NC State upset the Tigers.
Read more about gymnastics’ upset over the Tigers here.
No. 7 women’s tennis records first ranked win of the season
No. 7 NC State women’s tennis secured its first ranked win of the season after defeating No. 19 Tennessee on the road.
Heading into the singles matches down 1-0 after surprisingly losing the doubles point, the Pack needed wins immediately. Four singles victories from sophomore Anna Zyryanova, senior Sophie Abrams, senior Abigail Rencheli and senior Gina Dittman gave the red-and-white the points it needed to win the match 4-3.
Read about the ranked win against the Volunteers here.
Track and field secures top-10 finishes in Blacksburg, Virginia
NC State track and field traveled to Blacksburg for the third time this season to compete in the Doc Hale Invitational from Friday to Saturday. The team mainly competed in field events throughout the two days, with four athletes placing in the top-10 of their respective events each day.
Graduate student Jirah Sidberry and junior Zahra Bichara competed in the women’s long jump on the first day of competition, earning third and seventh place finishes, respectively. Senior Makala Wright led a cohort of Pack athletes in the women’s weighted throw and sophomore Nathan Lau threw 17.77 meters in the men’s weighted throw and took 10th place.
The second day saw more field events for the Pack, with sophomore Kyzaiah Stone taking the Wolfpack’s only first-place win of the meet in the men’s high jump.
Read more about the Pack’s placing at the Doc Hale Invitational here.
Women’s golf starts season off at Collegiate Invitational
Competing in Guadalajara, Mexico, NC State women’s golf kicked off spring competition in the Collegiate Invitational from Friday to Saturday. Finishing with a score of 907, the Pack placed eighth out of 12 teams.
Shooting 43 over-par throughout 54 holes, the team relied on sophomore Vania Simont, who posted a total score of 224, including a round where she shot two under-par and finished the round with a score of 70.
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