NC State advanced to the Elite Eight in women's tennis with a thrilling, come-from-behind win over Texas.

Despite falling in doubles, NC State defeated Texas, 4-2, in Raleigh to advance to the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships. 

It is the first time the Wolfpack has advanced to the Final Eight of the NCAA tournament since 2023. NCSU has reached the national quarterfinals four times under head coach Simon Earnshaw. 

After the Longhorns won the doubles point with wins on courts one and two, Lavinia Tanasie tied the match with a straight set victory in singles. Texas led again, but Mia Slama leveled affairs at two with a massive straight-sets win over Carmen Herea, the No. 3 player in the nation.

Slama blanked Herea, 6-0, in the second set. 

Leading 3-2, Victoria Osuigwe claimed the deciding point for the Wolfpack when she rallied to win in three sets. 

NC State will next travel to Athens, Ga., for the Elite Eight and championship rounds weekend, beginning May 14 and concluding with the national title match on May 17. Times, matches, and details will be determined later.

NC State 4, Texas 2
 
Doubles

Anastasia Abbagnato and Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) defeat Gabriella Broadfoot and Victoria Osuigwe (NCSU) 6-2

Carmen Herea and Christasha McNeil (TEX) defeat Anna Zyryanova/Jasmine Conway (NCSU) 7-5

Mia Slama/Lavinia Tanasie (NCSU) defeat Salma Drugdova and Eszter Meri (TEX) 6-1

Singles
1. Mia Slama (NCSU) def #3 Carmen Herea (TEX) 7-5, 6-0
2. Anna Zyryanova (NCSU) def.#6 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) 7-6(4), 6-1
3. Gabriella Broadfoot (NCSU) vs. Eszter Meri (TEX) 2-6, 7-5, 4-0 (UF)
4. Lavinia Tanasie (NCSU) def. Christasha McNeil (TEX) 6-3, 6-2
5. Victoria Osuigwe (NCSU) def. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
6. Kate Mansfield (TEX) def. Jasmine Conway (NCSU) 6-3, 6-4
 
Order of Finish
Doubles: 1, 3, 2 / Singles: 4, 6, 1, 2, 5

QUOTES

Head Coach Simon Earnshaw

Hey Coach, you know you're headed back to the quarterfinals; describe the emotions.

Yeah, man, it’s been breezy, a little bit up and down. I mean, we didn't make a very good start today. I think we thought we had a big advantage in the doubles point, but after five minutes of that doubles, it didn’t seem like it, did it? This season, particularly, and it’s not just us, it’s across the country, there have been a lot of inexplicable results, and it’s been very volatile. It was a little bit like some of our matches this year and the way that they finished.

If you had said that we were going to lose the doubles point, I would have said we’ve got a big problem in this match. I guess that was with two points I wasn't expecting, but we fought hard like we always do, and ultimately, at the end, we were together, and that was enough. I think we just managed to wear them down, and equally, I think the crowd was worth at least a point. I certainly don’t think we were doing anything too crazy other than supporting a home team, but it certainly seemed to bother them, that’s for sure. And I mean, that’s why if you get to host one of these, it’s an advantage.

I believe it’s three out of the last six years advancing to the Elite Eight, wait, one more, what does that say about the consistency of your program?

Well, I mean, it sort of felt like for three years in a row there, that was a normal thing. That’s how fortunate we were to have the teams that we had coming out of COVID. We’ve had to fight hard. I think definitely the loss in the final last year stayed with us. Obviously, we’ve got some personnel changes, and we’re still actually young, but I think as this season went along, and particularly going into this tournament, you can see we’re starting to gather momentum.

I think my biggest concern was whether we could keep that going, but I told them before the match that this year, despite everything else, we’ve hit all our goals, and the biggest goal was to host this thing. And now we’re moving on. I’m actually excited. I mean, we’ve got to play Georgia; we’ve done well against Georgia in the past, and I think it’s going to be this environment multiplied by about five, I would say. I think that’s the biggest thing for the next time it’s down to the wire. The girls get to experience this, and we’ll just go again in a week.

Mia picks up another top-five win. What did you see from her today?

I didn't really see much of it live, but I could see we were kind of hanging in there in the first set on both Mia’s and Anna’s courts. And just looking down the courts, you’re thinking, "Okay, we’ve really got to get those two first sets," and both of them came through. I was a little surprised that we were able to get through the second set as quickly as we could.

I mean, that’s just as good as the Brentmire win for me. It just shows you how far she’s come. I think she was a little bit in her head last weekend; we talked about it, and I’m assuming she just came out here and executed. I'm a little shocked, actually, to be honest with you, in that one, because that’s super high-level play there. I think more so than the match against Brentmire, in this one, she looked like she was in control.

You talked about the fans and the atmosphere. Also, there was some emotion from the other side on another court as well. How do you keep your players focused with all that going on around them?

Once we got into singles, and then as we reached the end of the first match, I think it just got really ridiculous. I mean, the officials, also... that’s one thing. Tennis officials can be a little too passive. If I criticize them right now, I’m going to get fined, but they’ve got to take control of the situation as well because I don’t think anybody knew what the hell was going on there for a while.

It makes sense that the opponent just kind of goes with it in that moment because if they can see that our player is a little bit tight, any more stimulation you can add is going to contribute to that. And obviously, it was kind of working. So, yeah, I mean, we don't see that a ton. I think about it: the ACC is one conference, the SEC is another, and there are definitely cultural differences.

Tory kind of missed out on her moment against UNC, but here, she’s the one who clinches it. What did you see there?

No, I mean, we had it as well. I mean, okay, the two double faults, fair enough. We’ve got to be a bit bigger there and just go for first serves. I mean, if you’re going to double fault, at least let’s try and bang down a first serve or two and take a chance on that one.

The deuce point at 4-1, though, was rough. So, I don't know how many match points it was ultimately, whether that was the eighth or the ninth, but I mean, at some point, you’re going to get one. She just got a little bit loose on a few of them; maybe didn’t quite get the ball in the right place a few times. But I mean, she played a great service game there at 5-4.

I mean, after dropping that game, that would have been bad news. I think it helps tremendously that Gabby was hanging around, and in fact, Gabby had won what, seven games in a row at the end there? I think that was huge as well. The fact that we were able to just have another lifeline there was big, and I honestly feel like Gabby kind of willed that to go down. She looked like she was with it then. Not that we weren't as well, but that was good to see.

Yeah, she was getting some treatment from the physio there, and yet she’s been playing through it all season. Do you think that’s some positive momentum she can bring into the quarterfinals, though, coming through that?

That’s for sure. And I mean, she’s kind of done this, right? She’s a bit up and down sometimes. I mean, you even put it in your tweet that she’s a little bit up and down at times. And today, being "down and then up" is much better than "up and then down," that’s for sure! So, I think we can take that for what it's worth.

Tory Osuigwe

Against UNC, it seemed like you missed your moment, but tonight you had it. Describe the emotions of that and everything that went into it.

It was pretty much the same thing. I was in the same position where I was up, then she came back, and then I was up again, and she came back. But I’m just glad we actually had a bunch of fans who came out to support and helped me actually finish it this time. It felt very relieving to have that after double-faulting a few times.

How do you lock back in and just close it out?

Obviously, having my coach come and help me on the court and tell me exactly what to do with a change made it a lot easier. But I just focused on trusting myself to keep hitting the same serve, even if it were to go out.

It seemed like Texas kind of had a disadvantage in the doubles, and you guys came out and lost that point. How did you guys regroup after that?

We just told ourselves in the huddle that we needed to win on every single court and fight for everything we could. Since we lost the deciding match in doubles, we knew we had to fight really hard just to get it back. On Court 3, I knew I wasn't the only one in it, and knowing that we had to win both matches made it very relieving just to get it done.

You mentioned the crowd; the coach describes it as chaotic at times. How do you focus through that and keep your eye on the goal with the stuff that was going on on Gabby’s court?

With it being dark, it was hard to see the ball, but I just tried my best on every point and every ball to focus on where it was going and what I was supposed to do. I just kept reminding myself of that in my head.