College Tennis News - NC State Tops Boston College to Advance to ACC Quarterfinals

CARY, N.C. – NC State knocked off No. 67 Boston College in the first round of the ACC Championships on Thursday, April 19, at the Cary Tennis Park. The contest came down to the final singles match, with Joelle Kissell picking up a three set victory to lead the Pack to a 4-3 win.

NC State avenged its regular season loss to Boston College, a 5-2 setback in Chestnut Hill, Mass., that was just 10 days ago. The Pack improves to 8-15 with the win, while the No. 67 Eagles drop to 10-13. NC State, the No. 9 seed in the tournament, will face Duke, the No. 1 seed, on Friday at 9 a.m. This marks the second consecutive year that the Pack has defeated the Eagles in the first round of the tournament.

NC State started off the match strong, winning on courts No. 1 and 3 to claim the point. The duo Chloe Smith and Elisha Hande picked up the first win of the day for the Pack, defeating Katarina Gajic and Olga Khmylev, 8-4. No. 76 Ashley Miller and Joelle Kissellfollowed close behind, beating No. 89 Erina Kikuchi and Jessica Wacnik by the same score, to pick up their second ranked win on the season.

Tatiana Illova and Nicole Martinez led Ina Kauppila and Sarah Dalton on court No. 2, but the match was left unfinished, as NC State had already clinched the point.

Nicole Martinez picked up the second point of the day for NC State, winning on court No. 6 in straight sets. Chloe Smith followed with a win at the No. 4 position to give the Pack a 3-0 lead. The Eagles battled back, winning on court No.’s 2, 3 and 5 to even the score at 3-all.

Joelle Kissell then clinched a three-set victory in position No. 1 to claim the win for NC State. After dropping the first set 6-7, Kissell stormed back to win the match, 6-7, 6-2, 6-0.

“I just kept sticking with the same focus, and the shots that I was missing in the first set went in in the second,” Kissell said. “That was so exciting, I’ve never been in that position before and it was awesome to have my whole team out there supporting me.

“I’m very excited to take on Duke tomorrow, we’re playing a lot better now than we were in the beginning of the season, and I think it’s going to be a great match.”

Doubles:
1. No. 76 Ashley Miller/Joelle Kissell (NCSU) def. No. 89 Erina Kikuchi/Jessica Wacnik (BC), 8-4
2. Tatiana Illova/Nicole Martinez (NCSU) led. Katarina Gajic/Olga Khmylev (BC), 5-4
3. Chloe Smith/Elisha Hande (NCSU) def. Ina Kauppila/Sarah Dalton (NC), 8-4
Order of finish: 3, 1, unfinished

Singles:
1. No. 31 Joelle Kissell (NCSU) def. No. 104 Erina Kikuchi (BC), 6-7, 6-2, 6-0
2. Jessica Wacnik (BC) def. Tatiana Illova (NCSU), 7-6, 6-3
3. Katarina Gajic (BC) def. Ashley Miller, 7-6, 6-3
4. Chloe Smith (NCSU) def. Olga Khmylev (BC), 6-1, 3-6, 6-2
5. Kelly Barry (BC) def. Christy Sipes (NCSU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
6. Nicole Martinez (NCSU) def. Ina Kauppila (BC), 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 4, 3, 2, 5, 1