Wake Forest University
North Carolina State
Deacons Drop ACC Opener to NC State 6-1
2/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 27, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Kayla Duncan and Kathryn Talbert upset the No. 7 ranked doubles team for the second time this season, but it was not enough, as the Wake Forest women's tennis team was defeated 6-1 by No. 31 NC State in the ACC opener for both schools at Leighton Stadium Sunday.
The Demon Deacons drop to 2-4 (0-1 ACC), while the Wolfpack improves to 7-1 (1-0 ACC).
A rowdy crowd of 173 watched the teams play a tightly contested doubles point. The Wolfpack got a win at No. 3, but moments later, 35th-ranked Duncan and Talbert polished off their 8-4 upset of No. 7 Sanaa Bhambri and Sandhya Nagaraj at the top doubles spot to leave the point to be decided at No. 2. It was Duncan and Talbert's second win over the Pack's top duo after they defeated them 8-6 at the Wake Forest Invitational in November.
At the No. 2 doubles spot, Emilee Malvehy and Ryann Cutillo had a break point at 6-6 but could not convert and would end up dropping the next two games to fall 8-6 to Lenka Hojckova and Tatiana Illova, giving NC State a 1-0 lead.
A brief rain shower forced a one hour delay in the first set of singles, but the courts dried and the match resumed outdoors. In her first career match as a ranked singles player, No. 88 Malvehy picked up Wake's only point of the day, cruising past Joelle Kissell 6-0, 6-4.
No. 50 Martina Pavelec looked primed for an upset of one of NC State's top players after she took the first set from No. 23 Bhambri, but she dropped a close second set and the match tiebreak to fall 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (4).
Hojckova earned the clinching point for the Wolfpack at the No. 3 spot, edging Kayla Duncan 6-4, 6-4.
The Demon Deacons will face a tough mid-week road trip when they travel to face No. 4 Duke on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Durham. Wake will then return home to host Richmond on Friday at 2:30 p.m.
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#31 NC State 6, #59 Wake Forest 1
Singles
1. #23 Sanaa Bhambri (NCSU) def. #50 Martina Pavelec (WF) 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (4-10)
2. #76 Sandhya Nagaraj (NCSU) def. Kathryn Talbert (WF) 6-0, 6-2
3. Lenka Hojckova (NCSU) def. Kayla Duncan (WF) 6-4, 6-4
4. #88 Emilee Malvehy (WF) def. Joelle Kissell (NCSU) 6-0, 6-4
5. Tana Illova (NCSU) def. Ryann Cutillo (WF) 6-3, 6-2
6. Christy Sipes (NCSU) def. Anna Mydlowska (WF) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
1. #35 Kayla Duncan/Kathryn Talbert (WF) def. #7 Sandhya Nagaraj/Sanaa Bhambri (NCSU) 8-4
2. Tana Illova/Lenka Hojckova (NCSU) def. Ryann Cutillo/Emilee Malvehy (WF) 8-6
3. Ashley Miller/Tanvi Shah (NCSU) def. Martina Pavelec/Brigita Bercyte (WF) 8-6
Match Notes:
NC State 7-1 (1-0 ACC); National ranking #31
Wake Forest 2-4 (0-1 ACC); National ranking #59
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2*); Singles (2,5,3*,4,1,6)
A-173
Players Mentioned
