ORLANDO – NC State women’s tennis will play for the 2023 NCAA Team Championship on Saturday after beating sixth-ranked Stanford (25-3) by a 4-0 score in Friday evening’s semifinal matchup at the USTA National Campus.
This marked the team’s second Final Four appearance in the past three seasons, and the Pack made history by advancing to the title match for the first time in program history. The Wolfpack extended its record on the season to 28-4, bettering its already-set program record for wins in a single season.
NC State will face off against top-ranked North Carolina on Saturday, May 20, with that match set to start at 5:30 p.m. EST in Orlando. The national title match will be a rematch of the 2023 ACC Tournament finalists as the Pack beat previously undefeated UNC by a 4-1 score a month ago to claim its first-ever conference title. That victory, NC State’s first over the Tar Heels in 25 years, remains North Carolina’s only loss of the season.
The doubles point came easy for the Pack as it secured wins on courts one and three to go up 1-0 in the team score to start. Diana Shnaider and Alana Smith, ranked fourth nationally in doubles, beat 16th-ranked Angelica Blake and Alexis Blokhina by a 6-3 score on the top court, and NC State also got the 6-2 win from Abigail Rencheli and Sophie Abrams on three.
NC State then went up a set on three singles courts and closed out the win with straight-set victories on each of those despite Stanford attempting to gain back momentum.
In a top-30 matchup on court one, Shnaider easily took care of Stanford’s Alexandra Yepifanova and beat her by a 6-1, 6-0 score. Through two matches played at the final site in Orlando, Shnaider has dropped just one game.
Gina Dittmann then put the Pack a match away from the clinch with a gutsy effort on court six. After winning her first set against Sara Choy, Dittmann then stared up at a 3-0 deficit in the second. She rallied off four games in a row to retake the lead and ultimately closed out the 6-3, 7-6 (4) win.
In fitting fashion, it was fifth-year standout Smith who delivered the Wolfpack its first-ever NCAA Team Championship match berth with her win on court two. Smith broke 18th-ranked Connie Ma’s serve in the to close out the 7-5, 7-5 victory and help make history for her team.
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