CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Fifth-ranked NC State women’s tennis (22-4) defeated No. 20 Georgia Tech (15-9) with a 5-0 shutout to advance to their first-ever ACC Tournament Championship match.
Heavily forecasted rain moved the tournament indoors to the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on UNC’s campus.
No. 5 Diana Shnaider and Alana Smith breezed through doubles with a 6-0 win over Georgia Tech’s No. 85 Kylie Bilchev and Alejandra Cruz to begin the momentum for the day. Sophie Abrams and Abigail Rencheli were down several sets to return on top 6-4 and clinch the point for the Wolfpack. No. 8 Nell Miller and Amelia Rajecki had already begun their last game so they finished out 6-4 as well to ensure the sweep over the Yellow Jackets.
In singles play, all eyes were on the closely-ranked matchup on court one between No. 12 Shnaider and No. 13 Carol Lee. Meanwhile, on court six Gina Dittmann flew through her match to finish 6-2, 6-1, and secure the first singles point.
No. 15 Smith finished next on court two when she closed out in two straight sets over No. 28 Kylie Bilchev, 6-2, 6-4.
NC State was leading 3-0 when attention floated back and forth between courts one and three to see who could clinch first. Shnaider took her first set 6-3 on court one while No. 29 Rajecki battled through her first set 7-6 (7-2) on court three over No. 87 Mahak Jain.
Both members of the Pack secured match points at the same time on the courts beside each other as Shnaider came from several games behind to force a tiebreaker and Rajecki was leading over her opponent.
The 5-0 win over the Yellow Jackets was the first ACC Tournament Semifinals win in program history. The team will be taking on No. 1 UNC in the championship match tomorrow. A few weeks ago the Wolfpack faced the Tarheels on the road and fell 0-7.
Results:
#5 NC State 5, #20 Georgia Tech 0
Doubles Results
Order of Finish: (1, 3, 2)
1. #5 Diana Shnaider/Alana Smith (ST) def. #85 Kylie Bilchev/Alejandra Cruz (GT) 6-0
2. #8 Nell Miller/Amelia Rajecki (ST) def. Monika Dedaj/Kate Sharabura (GT) 6-4
3. Sophie Abrams/Abigail Rencheli (ST) def. Rosie Garcia Gross/Carol Lee (GT) 6-4
Singles Results
Order of Finish: (6, 2, 3, 1)
1. #12 Diana Shnaider (ST) def. #13 Carol Lee (GT) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
2. #15 Alana Smith (ST) def. #28 Kylie Bilchev (GT) 6-2, 6-4
3. #29 Amelia…
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