The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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JULY/AUGUST 2026 ■ 47 2025-26 YEAR IN REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR Later, she earned All-America status in both indoor and outdoor track and set two ACC records on the oval. After just one college season, Engel- hardt holds conference records in the indoor mile (4:23.84) and outdoor 1,500 (4:03.28), in addition to setting an NC State mark in the 800 (2:02.31). While nagging injuries might have hindered her national championship bids in indoor and outdoor track, Engel- hardt's standout freshman season laid the foundation for a big career with the Wolfpack. Best Male Team Performance Despite dropping four of five go- ing into a prime-time clash with No. 8 Georgia Tech on Nov. 1, the NC State football team had a sense of confidence that it could compete with the unbeaten Yellow Jackets inside a raucous Carter- Finley Stadium. That feeling was validated by the end of the night. NC State earned its highest- ranked win since 2012 when it defeated the visitors, 48-36, setting off a wild field-storm after the clock hit zero. "Resiliency is what this place is about," Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren said af- terward. "It's why I've always loved NC State. It's definitely a part of my DNA. The harder it gets, sometimes I think the better we are." Redshirt freshman running back Jayden "Duke" Scott, who started in place of an injured Hollywood Smothers, rushed for a career-best 196 yards to pace the offense. Sophomore quarterback CJ Bailey added 340 passing yards with 3 total touch- downs to snap Georgia Tech's eight-game winning streak. The victory, in which NC State amassed 583 yards of total of- fense, sparked a late-season turnaround. The Pack won four of its last five games to reach the eight-win mark for the eighth time in Doeren's first 13 seasons in Raleigh. Best Female Team Performance After playing 15 ranked oppo- nents during the regular season, the NC State women's tennis team arrived at the ACC Tournament in Cary this past April with a sense of con- fidence that it could hang with anyone. The Wolfpack knew if it wanted to win the title, it would have to take down the best in the country, and that's exactly what it did. NC State rolled past No. 21 Cal, No. 6 North Carolina and No. 7 Vir- ginia en route to its second-ever confer- ence title. The Pack dropped only two singles matches the entire tournament, going 12-2 over a 72-hour span. Sophomore Mia Slama earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player award after she went undefeated and clinched two of the matches herself. Against defending national champion Reese Brantmeier of UNC, Slama battled back from match point to claim a 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 victory. Best Male Individual Performance Junior forward Donavan Phillip re- turned to NC State for his third collegiate season, even though he was a third-round pick in the 2025 Major League Soccer Su- perDraft. His decision to lace up his cleats for the Wolfpack once more paid massive dividends. The Castries, Saint Lucia, na- tive went from being a part of the Pack's goal-scoring attack to being the focal point of the offense. Phillip proved during the nonconfer- ence season that he was one of the top attacking players in the country. After opening the campaign with 6 goals in the Pack's first six games, he put together a breakout performance in Game 7, posting 4 goals in the opening 30 minutes of a 7-0 victory over William & Mary on Sept. 16. It didn't take long for Phillip to find the back of the net against the Tribe. He scored his first goal in the third minute of play, then tacked on the next three in the 20th, 27th and 28th minutes before being substituted out following his final tally. Phillip went on to lead Division I with 19 goals on the season. He was named a first-team All-American and won the ACC Offensive Player of the Year award and the MAC Hermann Trophy, with the latter going to the nation's top player. Best Female Individual Performance Eneli Jefimova showed up at NC State with a decorated international swim- ming résumé. She was a 14-time gold medalist at the senior, junior and U23 levels and a two-time Olympian repre- senting her native Estonia. In her debut season at the American collegiate level, she didn't disappoint. Jefimova cruised to the ACC title in the 100-yard breaststroke, setting a meet re- cord in the preliminary heats (57.39) and earning the conference crown with ease. She then shattered the NC State program record in the event en route to an NCAA championship (56.30). "Even if I'm coming from Europe, and I'm far away from home, I'm still capable of do- ing [big things]," Jefimova told the ESPN broadcast on the pool deck after she claimed the first national title of her career. "I'm proud to represent NC State and the Wolfpack women." With her effort in Atlanta, Jefimova became the fourth fe- male individual national cham- pion in the history of NC State's swimming and diving program. She used an elite kick to surge from the middle of the pack and win the race by seven-tenths of a second, posting the fifth-fast- est time ever in the collegiate event. ■ Eneli Jefimova became the fourth NC State swimmer to win a women's national championship when she captured the title in the 100-yard breaststroke. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS