VIDEO: Team Practice
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The NC State women's tennis team will take on Notre Dame in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Championship in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Friday, May 10 at the Varsity Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Michigan.
NC State Notes:
Return to the NCAA Tourney
The NC State Wolfpack will make its sixth overall appearance, and its second trip in three years, in the NCAA Championship. In 2011, the Pack defeated Virginia Commonwealth, 4-0, in the first round of the tournament, before falling to Virginia.
Back to the Future
While NC State and Notre Dame's women's tennis programs have never faced off in their histories, the two schools will become familiar foes beginning in the fall of 2013 when the Fighting Irish officially join the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Pack In The Polls
According to the latest ITA national team rankings, NC State is ranked No. 42. The Wolfpack has two ranked singles players in No. 53 Joelle Kissell and No. 86 Tatiana Illova.
A Tough Road
The Wolfpack played one of the more challenging schedules in the country this season, as 11 of its 21 opponents received bids to the NCAA tournament. The Pack did not drop a contest to a team that did not make the field of 64, going a perfect 9-0.
Wolfpack Feeds Off Doubles
NC State is 14-1 this season when it wins the doubles point in dual-match play. The Pack wins nearly two-thirds of its doubles matches with a .629 winning percentage (39-23) in dual matches and is led by the sophomore duo of Elisha Hande and Nicole Martinez, who are 13-6 at the No. 2 spot in the lineup and have won four in a row.
Veteran Leadership in Singles
The three upperclassmen in the Wolfpack's regular singles lineup own a 44-17 (.721) mark in dual singles matches this season. Seniors Tatiana Illova and Chloe Smith are tied for the team lead with 15-6 records, while junior Joelle Kissell is 14-5 with all of her victories coming at the No. 1 spot in the lineup.
Re-Writing the Record Books
With her 6-3, 6-3 win over Georgia Tech's 86th-ranked Elizabeth Kilborn on April 21, junior Joelle Kissell won her 49th-career spring singles match and passed Blair Sutton (1995-98) for third on the program's all-time list.
Senior Tatiana Illova's 6-3, 6-4 win over Boston College's Jessica Wacnik on April 25 was the 43rd of her career, and tied Lenka Hokckova for eighth on the school's list for spring singles wins.
Best Start in Program History
The Wolfpack opened the 2013 spring season with a 9-0 record, which marked the most wins to start a season in program history. The squad improved to 10-1 which also marked the best start to a season since the 1995 team went 12-1.
