NC State women's tennis 2025-26. ACC Champions! 5/15 Elite 8

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Wolfer79
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Final | NC State 4, Virginia 0

Mia Slama wins on Court 1 (7-6, 6-2) versus Vivian Yang and the Wolfpack wins the 2026 ACC Women's Tennis Championship.

GuerrillaPack
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Wolfer79
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Wolfer79
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GuerrillaPack
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Adding these interviews Rob McLamb got of head coach Simon Earnshaw, ACC Tournament MVP Mia Slama, and the lone senior Anna Zyryanova right after winning the ACC Tournament Championship match.








BreakPoint
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Remind me again of the injured player's name. I remember she was quite good…played #1 perhaps? She's still on the team? Hitting any balls yet?
GuerrillaPack
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BreakPoint said:

Remind me again of the injured player's name. I remember she was quite good…played #1 perhaps? She's still on the team? Hitting any balls yet?

Michaela Laki. She played #1 singles most of last season, before she had a knee injury (ACL tear). She had surgery for the injury at the very end of April last year, I believe it was. She's on the GoPack roster for this season, and still with the program as far as I know. She still has @packwtennis in her Instagram bio. On Instagram, she posted a story with the main post of the ACC Tournament Championship.

https://www.instagram.com/michaela.laki/?hl=en

I've been to most of the home matches this year (or in Cary), and she's only been there in person about 30-40% of the time, and mostly near the beginning of the season. She wasn't with the team in person at the ACC Tournament. And I can't remember the last time I saw her at a match...it's been several weeks, maybe over a month.

I went to one of the very first home matches of the year (in the indoor facility), and as I was walking in, she was standing by the court talking to an older lady (who I think might be a former NC State women's tennis coach), and I was within 5 feet of them and I overheard Laki say, paraphrasing, that she "might miss the entire team competition season". With these ACL injuries, it usually takes about a year to return to full strength, and so they are probably just being cautious/conservative with her rehab.

I went to the non-conference match vs UNC back at the end of January, and saw her during pre-match warmups out there hitting balls on the court, but she wasn't moving around real fast...probably just taking it easy.
GuerrillaPack
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Technician article on the Wolfpack ACC Championship win:

https://technicianonline.com/159890/sports/tennis/no-13-wolfpack-womens-tennis-in-stride-at-the-right-time-claims-acc-championship/

Quote:

No. 13 Wolfpack women's tennis in stride at the right time, claims ACC Championship

CARY, N.C. It has all come together at the right time for No. 13 NC State women's tennis. After falling just short against numerous top opponents throughout the season, the Pack hit its stride and cleared the field on the way to its second ACC Championship in four years.

Using the same formula that it used to take down No. 6 UNC-Chapel Hill in the semifinals, NC State (22-7, 10-2 ACC) dominated No. 7 Virginia (21-5, 12-0 ACC) in a 4-0 sweep overcoming a team that it had lost to just last week. The Pack took the upper hand after winning an intense doubles point and used that momentum to take control in the singles. Sophomore and tournament MVP No. 43 Mia Slama delivered the final blow to clinch the win.

In the 4-2 semifinal win versus UNC, the Pack faced much more pressure, saving seven match points before coming up clutch late. But against the Wahoos, there was never much doubt.

"I overheard the commentator being like, 'Virginia needs to win every single match from now on,'" Slama said. "And I was like, 'we got it. We got it in the bag.' I can see everyone's fighting so hard, and I just knew everyone was gonna show up today and perform their best. That's what we did."

No. 43 Slama lost on Court 1 to Virginia's No. 61 Vivian Yang in the regular season finale, losing two tie-breaks. In Cary, she flipped that result as she won a tremendous first set 7-6(4) to put the Pack fully in control. With NC State's advantage increasing, Slama cruised to a 6-2 second-set win to claim the title.

Court 1 wasn't the only flipped result for the Pack. Wahoo Martina Genis Salas had beaten freshman Victoria Osuigwe in a three setter in Charlottesville, but Osuigwe looked unstoppable in the ACC final, winning 6-3, 6-2.

"In many ways, I kind of expected [the performance]," head coach Simon Earnshaw said. "Now that sounds kind of crazy, especially given that we lost to Virginia last week. But quite frankly, after yesterday's match, we were playing with house money. And we saved seven match points, including Mia saving four of them in one game."

The other player to secure a singles point was senior Anna Zyryanova, who was around for NC State's ACC Championship and run to the NCAA Final in 2023. No. 52 Zyryanova took down No. 29 Annabelle Xu 6-3, 6-2 to put the Pack up 3-0.

"It's unreal," Zyryanova said. "I had this full circle moment. I wasn't playing in a lineup a lot in my freshman year, so I didn't play during the ACC championship. And maybe I couldn't understand what it felt like back in the day. But now, being here playing singles at No. 2, doubles at No. 2, It's just amazing… It's very symbolic that I'm here as a freshman and here as a senior now."

When the hefty trophy was brought out for the team, Zyryanova, the Pack's lone senior, was the first player to hoist it.

NC State lost the first set on Courts 3 and 4 as No. 53 junior Gabriella Broadfoot and No. 73 freshman Lavinia Tanasie got off to slower starts. But both won their second sets and helped NC State take all of the momentum into the end of the match.

The Pack took the doubles point as reigning NCAA champion duo No. 4 Broadfoot and Osuigwe took down No. 8 Yang and Melodie Collard 6-4. NC State had lost that matchup when the two played in Virginia April 14, but rode the energy of the crowd and the previous win to victory. Slama and Tanasie came through 6-4, beating Isabelle Lacy and Katie Rolls on doubles Court 3.

"This is our state, we knew that," Slama said. "Having all the fans and everything was amazing too, and playing them once helped us know what we needed to do better and come back better for this time."

Heading into NCAA tournament selection, the red-and-white is a lock as an NCAA Regional host. It will be on the cusp of hosting a Super Regional if its wins over No. 6 UNC and No. 7 Virginia push it into the top 8. First and second round matches are set for May 1-3, and the bracket will be announced Monday, April 27 at 5:30 p.m.

"I think we have a really good shot," Slama said. "I believe in our team. We can go all the way … I'm just really excited, and I think we have a great opportunity. I'm ready to take it."

GuerrillaPack
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New national rankings just came out. We moved up to #10 in the nation. Virginia is still ranked #7. This is wild because unless anything changes in the rankings in the top 20 as a result of the Big 10 tennis tournament next weekend, that means we will likely have to face Virginia in the Super Regional (Sweet 16 round) of the NCAA Tournament for a chance to advance to the Elite 8.
GuerrillaPack
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Head Coach Earnshaw discussed the rankings in the ACC Championship post-match interview (posted above). The national rankings are computer/algorithm based (not a human poll). Probably a similar system to how RPI works. If it was a human poll (more accurate), we probably deserve to be ranked somewhere in the range of 6th to 8th. It sucks because we'll have to be on the road in the opposing teams environment for the Super Regional. And I believe that can make a significant difference in the outcome of the match, especially with a vocal crowd (energizing the home team and demoralizing the opposing team). But if it is Virginia, we know we can beat them. And, that would be within driving distance for some Wolfpack fans to make the trip up there.

BreakPoint
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I saw an article recently about the University of Arkansas dropping their men's and women's tennis program. They will honor the scholarships, but that's it.
GuerrillaPack
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BreakPoint said:

I saw an article recently about the University of Arkansas dropping their men's and women's tennis program. They will honor the scholarships, but that's it.


And if the biggest reason is trying to "save money", they should actually cut women's basketball, as that sport loses by far the most money at the vast majority of P4 schools. I think baseball is the sport that loses the 2nd most at most P4 schools. Tennis is one of the sports that loses the least of any non-revenue sport.

Tennis, and especially the Wolfpack women's team, is my favorite sport at NC State to follow and attend games in person. Women's cross country is 2nd. Then volleyball and wrestling.

If NC State were to drop tennis, I'd probably be so upset that I would largely give up following Wolfpack sports all together, except for women's cross country.
Wolfer79
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Ready for more postseason action

We'll find out our NCAAs fate tomorrow as the 2026 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Selection Show airs at 4:30 p.m on NCAA.com
GuerrillaPack
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I hope cylonwolf can upload the ACCN broadcast of the ACC Championship match to YouTube.


GuerrillaPack
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#18 Michigan just beat #5 Ohio State today 4-2 in the Big10 championship. That's potentially significant for our ranking and seeding for the NCAA tournament because we beat Michigan earlier this year (by a score of 7-0). With the way the ranking algorithm works, we will gain points and maybe be able to jump #9 LSU or #8 Texas in the rankings/seedings.
Wolfer79
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GuerrillaPack
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We got the #8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and get to host the Super Regional. Will face #9 Texas in the Super Regional if it goes chalk.
GuerrillaPack
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After the Super Regional (Sweet 16 Round), the final 8 teams go to Athens, Georgia with the Quarterfinals Semifinals, and the Final all being hosted by the University of Georgia this year.

And if we were to beat Texas in the Super Regional and advance to the Elite Eight, we would have to face #1 seeded Georgia (assuming they advance) in a Quarterfinal on their home courts in Athens.

Athens is not too far (~4/5 hrs) of a drive from North Carolina. If we were to advance to the semifinals or finals, I would probably make the drive down there.
Wolfer79
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GuerrillaPack said:

We got the #8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and get to host the Super Regional. Will face #9 Texas in the Super Regional if it goes chalk.


Wolfer79
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Wolfer79
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Wolfer79
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Beyond the Howl: the journey to our second ACC Championship in program history

Get hype for NCAAs by watching the full video on YouTube before we begin our quest for another title:

Wolfer79
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Wolfer79
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Wolfer79
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Wolfer79
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WOLFPACK WINS!
@PackWTennis receives a doubles clinch in singles from Jasmine & Anna to take a 5-0 opening rd win in the NCAA Tournament over Morgan St! Tomorrow at 3pm NC State will face UCF for a place in the Sweet 16!! #WPN #GoPack





Wolfer79
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With the win, NC State advances to the second round for the seventh consecutive season and is one win away from its seventh straight Sweet 16 appearance. The Wolfpack will face No. 20 UCF in the second round for the second year in a row after defeating the Knights 4-1 at home last season.

Results
(8) NC State 5, Morgan State 0
Doubles

#3 Gabriella Broadfoot/Victoria Osuigwe (NCSU) def. Lauryn Hall/Marta Serra-Carles (MSUW) 6-1

#49 Anna Zyryanova/Jasmine Conway (NCSU) vs. Julia Jeffrey/Michaela Stephens [MSUW] 5-2, uf

Mia Slama/Lavinia Tanasie (NCSU) def. Damla Arslaa/Tyler Williams [MSUW] 6-2

Singles
1. #26 Mia Slama (NCSU) vs. Michaela Stephens [MSUW] 6-4, 2-1, uf
2. #46 Anna Zyryanova (NCSU) def. Julia Jeffrey [MSUW] 6-2, 6-3
3. #49 Gabriella Broadfoot (NCSU) def. Marta Serra-Carles [MSUW] 6-2, 6-2
4. #66 Lavinia Tanasie (NCSU) def. Tyler Williams [MSUW] 6-3, 6-2
5. Victoria Osuigwe (NCSU) vs. Lauryn Hall [MSUW] 6-1, 5-4, uf
6. Jasmine Conway (NCSU) def. Roua Limem [MSUW] 6-0, 6-4

Order of Finish
Doubles: 1, 3 / Singles: 4,3,6,2

Up Next
NC State will face No. 20 UCF in the second round on Saturday, May 2 at 3 p.m. in Raleigh, with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.

https://gopack.com/news/2026/5/1/womens-tennis-eighth-seeded-pack-moves-into-ncaa-tournament-second-round-with-win-over-morgan-state
Wolfer79
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Wolfer79
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Wolfer79
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UPDATE: our match is now set for 6 p.m. tonight

GuerrillaPack
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Beat UCF 4-0 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the 7th straight season.


Wolfer79
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