After losing seven-straight matches over the past month, the Terrapins women’s tennis team’s season appeared to be slipping away from them. The Terps were winless since March 4, dropped 25 spots in the national rankings and remained without a victory in ACC competition.
But in the first of their final two home matches of the season, the Terps finally recovered.
The No. 73 Terps won their first conference match of the season yesterday, defeating Wake Forest, 6-1. The team dominated in all phases of the match in a near-perfect performance, taking two of three doubles matches and winning five of its six singles matches to extend the Demon Deacons’ eight-match conference losing streak.
“It feels good,” coach Dianne Matias said. “The girls, they kept it together. That’s a tough thing to do after a few tough losses. The team has been doing a good job of keeping a positive attitude.”
No. 31 Cristina Stancu continued her great play for the Terps (7-11, 1-7 ACC) in the match. The sophomore has won four consecutive matches and five of her past six, including victories over two top-20 opponents in Virginia’s Emily Fraser and Miami’s Anna Bartenstein.
“She’s a very tough competitor,” Matias said. “She’ll stay out there as long as she needs to get her match done.”
The Demon Deacons (3-14, 0-8) came into the match after losing to No. 12 Virginia and No. 63 Virginia Tech over the weekend. Wake Forest is now 1-5 on the road this season.
The Terps’ next match will be on Sunday against N.C. State (6-12, 2-5).
The Terrapins men’s team will also be in action this weekend, traveling to North Carolina to take on league foes Wake Forest tonight and N.C. State on Saturday.
After notching their first-ever win against No. 61 Miami on Sunday, the Terps (5-12, 2-5) re-entered the the national rankings this week at No. 75, after recovering from a 4-3 loss to No. 26 Florida State on Friday to beat the Hurricanes.
The Terps are visiting a Demon Deacons (9-12, 0-6) squad that dropped a pair of 6-1 matches to No. 7 Duke and No. 21 North Carolina last weekend. But even though Wake Forest is winless in conference play, the Terps are still entering today’s contest with caution, having lost 34 of 44 matches to the Demon Deacons all time.
The No. 36 Wolfpack (15-7, 1-5) haven’t fared much better in ACC competition. The team has lost five of its last six, its lone victory coming at Miami. N.C. State has used home-court advantage to its benefit so far this season, boasting a 12-1 record in Raleigh, N.C.
Being the first one in program history, the victory over the Hurricanes is one coach Kyle Spencer wants his Terps to be proud of. And with two critical ACC contests looming, the team hopes to use that momentum heading into the weekend.
“This should be a good match for the guys,” Spencer said. “We played a good match against Miami, and we’re looking to continue that kind of play in our matches this weekend.”
walker@umdbk.com
