Wake Forest University
NC State
Demon Deacons Primed for ACC Home Opener on Friday, Out-of-State Test on Sunday
2/16/2023 10:06:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Wake Forest will split its time at home and on the road this weekend.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Having reached the midway point of February, Wake Forest women's tennis turns its attention to an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opener at home on Friday (Feb. 17), rounding out an ongoing, three-week homestand. Big Four foe NC State (5-1) will make the short trip from Raleigh, facing Wake Forest at 4 p.m. ET. The Wolfpack recently moved up to No. 9 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) team rankings and will be the Demon Deacons' second ranked test of 2023.
Following Friday's contest, the Deacs (5-3) will travel out of state to visit the South Carolina Gamecocks (1-3) on Sunday, scheduled for a 11 a.m. ET start time.
Wake Forest has won its last three matches, all happening at the team's tennis center.
The Matches
Friday, Feb. 17 – Wake Forest vs. No. 9 NC State – 4 p.m. ET
Sunday, Feb. 19 – Wake Forest at South Carolina – 11 a.m. ET
Last Time Out
This past weekend, Wake Forest women's tennis pushed its home record this season to 5-1, as the Demon Deacons knocked off Southern Conference sides Furman (5-2) and UNC Greensboro (7-0) on Saturday (Feb. 11) at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.
Match One – Wake Forest 5, Furman 2
The Deacs kept poised to grab the doubles point before Anna Brylin and Casie Wooten showed out in singles.
After four courts of solo play reached a third set apiece, Brooke Killingsworth stepped up to the test in providing the clinch for Wake Forest. Maddie Lynch notched a win of her own to wrap the first match of Saturday.
Wake Forest now leads 30-1 over Furman in the all-time series.
Match Two – Wake Forest 7, UNCG 0
Led by a quick pair of 6-0 victories in doubles by No. 10 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth and Maddie Lynch/Jingyi Li, the Deacs went into solo action a point up.
Then, in singles, Brylin paced the Deacs in notching a first court win before all six competing players finished victoriously in straight sets.
With the outcome, Wake Forest has won three-straight matches against UNCG and is 8-3 all-time against the Spartans.
Captain Things
Graduate student and team captain Anna Brylin has kicked off her final collegiate season with exceptional play, standing at a 7-0 record in singles competition. All but one of her wins have happened at the No. 2 spot. Additionally, the Short Hills, New Jersey, native has tallied straight-set showings in six of her seven victories.
Brylin recently collected her 150th career victory of combined singles and doubles wins, becoming the 23rd player in program history to do so. She is also close to cracking into the program's top-10 of doubles victories, currently at 84 and needing two more wins.
In doubles, Brylin competes alongside junior Brooke Killingsworth as the No. 10 duo in the country. The pair holds a 4-2 clip thus far in the spring. Brylin/Killingsworth have collected 84 wins in three years of playing together, standing at a sixth-best, all-time mark among Wake Forest tandems.
Ranked Deacs
Currently in the fourth week of the spring campaign, Wake Forest continues to hold three total individuals within the ITA rankings.
Singles:
-
No. 29 – Casie Wooten
Doubles:
-
No. 10 – Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingsworth
Brylin and Killingsworth moved up two spots after being ranked 12th in the country this past fall.
Series History
Versus NC State
-
Series: Wake Forest leads, 48-15
-
Last Time: March 8, 2022
-
Result: L, 3-4
Versus South Carolina
-
Series: South Carolina leads, 14-9
-
Last Time: February 5, 2022
-
Result: W, 4-3
Scouting the Opposition
Slated at No. 9 in the latest ITA rankings, NC State enters Friday at a 5-1 overall clip, having won its last three matches. The team captured ranked wins over No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 22 Tennessee. 2022 NCAA doubles champion Nell Miller and 2022 All-Americans Abigail Rencheli and Alana Smith are roster returnees. Several Wolfpack members hold current national rankings:
-
No. 5 – Nell Miller/Amelia Rajecki (Doubles)
-
No. 15 – Alana Smith (Singles)
-
No. 19 – Amelia Rajecki (Singles)
-
No. 35 – Abigail Rencheli (Singles)
-
No. 64 – Sophie Abrams (Singles)
After falling to Clemson on Tuesday (Feb. 14), South Carolina is preparing to host a doubleheader with Coastal Carolina and Yale on Friday before Sunday's matchup against Wake Forest. The Gamecocks are 1-3 overall on the year, led by two ranked individuals:
-
No. 6 – Sarah Hamner (Singles)
-
No. 13 – Ayana Akli (Singles)
Akli was recently named the SEC Player of the Week on Jan. 25; the first such nod of her career. Hamner, the 2022 SEC Freshman of the Year, had a standout fall season, piecing together a 12-5 singles record that featured seven ranked wins. The sophomore became the program's second all-time ITA Carolina Regional champion in October, the first Gamecock to achieve such a feat since 1988. Hamner is the second-highest rated sophomore in the current ITA singles rankings.
Up Next
A yearly event is next on the Deacs' radar – the 75th annual Blue Gray National Tennis Classic. Competition will be held in Montgomery, Alabama.
Last season, Wake Forest advanced to the championship match, taking on Oklahoma State, which was ranked seventh in the country at the time.
Players Mentioned
