North Carolina State Team Page
TAMPA, Fla. – The NC State women’s tennis team improved to 8-0 on the season and tied the 2006 team for the best start in program history with a 5-2 victory over the University of South Florida Wednesday afternoon.
The match began with doubles action, as the sophomore tandem of Nicole Martinez and Elisha Hande cruised to an 8-3 victory over Fanny Fracassi and Paula Montoya at the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Martinez and Hande improved to 6-0 as a doubles team this spring.
Senior Chloe Smith and sophomore Sophie Nelson continued their dominance as a doubles unit in the No. 3 spot, outlasting Danielle Mills and Alessandra Bonte, 8-5, to push their record to 8-0 on the year, clinch the doubles point and give the Wolfpack a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
The Pack received a lift from junior and 52nd-ranked Joelle Kissell at No. 1 singles, as she defeated the Bulls’ 78th-ranked Ecaterina Vasenina, 6-3, 6-4, and improved to 7-1 this spring.
Playing in the No. 2 spot, senior Tatiana Illova collected her third-straight victory with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Loreta Alonso, while Hande eased past Montoya, 6-1, 6-2, in the No. 5 spot. Illova and Hande both own 7-1 dual singles records this season.
Playing in the No. 6 spot, Smith grabbed a 6-2 first-set victory, but Bonte responded with a 6-3 second-set win to push the match into a decisive third frame. It was there that Smith powered her way to a 6-4 triumph, and improved her mark to 8-0 in dual singles matches this season.
Smith, a Naples, Fla., native, has yet to drop a singles or doubles match this spring.
Freshman Rachael James-Baker suffered her first dual singles defeat of the year, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 1-0 (10-3) at the hands of Mills in just her second match at the No. 3 spot in the lineup, while Martinez was downed, 6-4, 6-2, by Fracassi in the No. 4 spot.
NC State will return to the courts Friday, Mar. 8, for the first of five-straight home matches when it hosts UNC Wilmington at 2:30 p.m.
With a victory over the Seahawks, the unbeaten Wolfpack would improve to 9-0 on the season and become the first team in program history to start the season with nine straight wins.
Tennis Match Results
Mar 6, 2013 at Tampa, Fla.
#33 NC State 5, South Florida 2
Singles competition
1. #52 Joelle Kissell (NCSU) def. #78 Katie Vasenina (USF) 6-3, 6-4
2. Tatiana Illova (NCSU) def. Loreto Alonso-Marti. (USF) 6-1, 6-4
3. Danielle Mills (USF) def. Rachael James-Baker (NCSU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 1-0 (10-7)
4. Fanny Fracassi (USF) def. Nicole Martinez (NCSU) 6-4, 6-2
5. Elisha Hande (NCSU) def. Paula Montoya (USF) 6-1, 6-2
6. Chloe Smith (NCSU) def. Alessandra Bonte (USF) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Joelle Kissell/Tatiana Illova (NCSU) vs. Loreto Alonso-Marti./Katie Vasenina (USF) 7-6, unfinished
2. Nicole Martinez/Elisha Hande (NCSU) def. Fanny Fracassi/Paula Montoya (USF) 8-3
3. Chloe Smith/Sophie Nelson (NCSU) def. Alessandra Bonte/Danielle Mills (USF) 8-5
Match Notes:
South Florida 5-5
NC State 8-0; National ranking #33
