The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1502339
TRACKING THE PACK 16 ■ THE WOLFPACKER PACK SPOTLIGHT ■ Women's Tennis During his 15 years at Armstrong Atlantic, Simon Earnshaw created a powerhouse tennis program, winning six Division II national champion- ships on the women's side and three with the men. Earnshaw found a believer at the Division I level in NC State, and this past year a lot of administrators undoubtedly began to wish they had taken a chance on him earlier. In April, NC State dealt No. 1 North Carolina its first loss of the season in claiming the program's first-ever ACC cham- pionship. Then, NC State made its second NCAA Final Four appearance in the past three years and reached the national title match. The Wolfpack got there by sweeping No. 7 Stanford in the semifinals, 4-0. Junior Amelia Rajecki made program history by reaching the semifinals of the NCAA Singles National Championship, breaking a school record with 40 individual wins in the process. All this from a program that prior to Earnshaw's arrival in 2015 had fin- ished above .500 in the ACC just once since being sanctioned in 1983 and had won either one or no league matches in 16 of those 32 seasons. This season, Earnshaw picked up career win No. 900 and was named the ACC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. Prized rookie Diana Shnaider was selected as the conference's Freshman of the Year. Shnaider (singles and doubles) and senior Alana Smith (doubles) were named first-team All-ACC, while Rajecki was a second-team selection in both singles and doubles. Smith and senior Nell Miller were second-team All-ACC doubles choices. Miller and Smith have used up their NCAA eligibility, and Shnaider is ex- pected to pursue a professional career. However, Earnshaw's incoming re- cruiting class is ranked No. 5 nationally by Tennis Recruiting Network, the highest in program history. The three-player class is led by top-10 national prospect Maddy Zampardo from Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich. — Matt Carter/Photos courtesy NC State Athletics