Miami falls just short to No. 15 NC State in Raleigh

Fifth-year senior Antonia Balzert lines up a shot during her singles match against Duke University's Katie Codd at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on Feb. 23, 2024. Photo credit: Alexandra Fisher

Following back-to-back weekend wins against No. 70 Boston College and No. 47 Syracuse, theCanes rolled into Raleigh with great resilience but fell short of their seventh conference victory. The Wolfpack ranks third in the ACC and is nearly perfect at home, with a 5-1 record in conference play.

Miami opened the afternoon hot, notching back-to-back-ranked wins to claim the opening point. Beginning on court two, UM’s Leonie Schuknecht and Antonia Balzert defeated No. 11 Anna Zyryanova and Sophie Abrams, 6-3. The No. 49ranked duo of Isabella Pfennig and Xinyi Nong quickly clinched the doubles point for the Canes with a 6-3 win against State’s Amelia Rajecki and Maddy Zampardo at the top court.

The Wolfpack quickly readjusted and found greater success during the singles matches. State’s No. 45 Zyryanova proved to be too much to handle for Balzert in her 6-1, 6-2 victory. The Wolfpack jumped ahead on court four, where senior Gina Dittmann succeeded over Miami’s Schuknecht, 6-2, 6-3.

No. 71 Pfennig was able to stop the Wolfpack’s push and picked up Miami’s first singles point over Abigail Rencheli, 6-3, 7-6 (2). Court one housed a hard-fought, top-15 matchup between UM’s No. 14 Noel and State’s No. 5 Rajecki, in which Rajecki claimed a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory. State was able to clinch the team victory with Zampardo’s 6-4, 7-5 win over No. 104 Audrey Boch-Collins.

Nong got underway on court six and finished her match on top of State’s Gabriella Broadfoot, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, to cap off the Wolfpack’s 4-3 victory.

The Canes will stay in North Carolina, as they next face Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on Sunday at noon.