No. 9 seed N.C. State (13-9, 4-7 ACC) will take on No. 8 seed Virginia (10-10, 4-7) at 9 a.m. today in the first round of the women’s ACC tournament at Cary Tennis Park.
According to junior Julia Roach, the women are looking to ride the wave of an upset win over No. 18 Duke on Saturday — the biggest win in school history.
“We’re all still really excited about the big win,” Roach said. “We all have more confidence and are excited about the tournament and upsetting more teams.”
Though the women fell 4-3 to Virginia in Charlottesville earlier this season, coach Hans Olsen said he feels the Wolfpack has home-court advantage playing in Cary.
“I’m expecting it’s going to be a very competitive, intense match where both teams are hungry,” Olsen said. “For us it’s more of a home match because we’re here in Raleigh.”
Olsen said the close nature of the match earlier this season along with his team’s recent improvement has him feeling confident in the chances at success today.
“It was very close,” Olsen said of the March 23 match against Virginia. “Almost every court was really tight in doubles and in singles. I give them credit; they came up with a few points at the end to get it done.
“We played well for that time, but we’re a different team now. That was maybe five weeks ago. Virginia will be ready to play, and I think our team will be very prepared to play. It will come down to who puts the most competitive pressure on their opponent.”
Freshman Berkeley Brock said Virginia is a beatable team.
“They have a very deep team, but we do as well,” Brock said. “I think we definitely have the ability to beat them, but it’s just going to come down to how well we compete.”
With a win, the Pack would take on No. 1-seed Clemson on Friday. According to Roach, a first-round win over Virginia is essential to secure the team’s NCAA tournament hopes.
“Hopefully the win against Duke secured a spot in the NCAA tournament,” Roach said. “We try not to think about that, but obviously it’s in the back of our heads.”
Olsen said the key to the team’s recent success rests on putting competitive pressure on teams in singles. Doubles play, according to Olsen, has consistently been strong all year.
“We’ve been doing very well with doubles and winning the doubles point a lot and have a lot of confidence there,” Olsen said. “The girls really picked it up against Duke in the singles and won four of the six singles matches. And that’s the improvement we’ve been looking for.”
According to Olsen, every conference match will be tough, particularly with the excitement and intensity of the ACC tournament.
“In our conference, everybody is good and everybody is nationally ranked,” Olsen said. “It’s an opportunity for a quality win every time we play. And we just came off one with a win against Duke.
“Every time we play, the girls are really playing with a lot of confidence. For us, what works is just bringing competitive pressure on our opponents on every court. When we do that, we have a chance to beat every team that we’ve played.”
Senior Staff Writer J. Mike Blake contributed to this story.
