When the NCAA men’s tennis season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it left NC State’s men’s tennis team wondering what could have become of a seemingly solid season.
The NC State women’s tennis team was robbed of a potentially magical season due to the season’s cancellation on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the ACC being loaded with talent, the Wolfpack was poised to make a run at some silverware this season.
5. Wolfpack claws its way to a gutsy win against Irish —Feb. 21, 2020
In order to continue its five-game winning streak against the Indiana school, the Pack needed all the luck it could get against a feisty Notre Dame team. The Irish pulled off what many schools couldn’t: beating the vaunted duo of senior Anna Rogers and sophomore Alana Smith. Smith and Rogers were ranked second in the country in doubles play, their lowest ranking of the season, but their surprising loss gave the Irish a crucial doubles point going into singles play.
The 2020 NC State men’s tennis team was one of the best in school history, achieving its highest all-time ranking five times this season. The Pack was ranked in the top-10 since Feb. 5 and finished the year ranked No. 6. Unfortunately, NC State was denied a chance to compete for the ACC and national championships due to COVID-19, but there are still plenty of memorable moments to look back on. Here are the top five moments of the NC State men’s tennis team’s shortened season.
Senior Alexis Galarneau is the No. 1-seeded player on the NC State men’s tennis team and one of the top 100 rated singles players in the nation. After a 10-1 singles start this season and an 11-4 start for the team as a whole, it was looking like a promising season for the Pack.
With an 18-3 overall record during the start of the 2020 season, the NC State women’s tennis team was looking to build on this success to complete a historic season. With the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, its season and hopes for a trip to the NCAA Championships were cut short. However, things were looking bright for the women’s tennis team.
The NCAA Division I Council announced Monday evening it had voted to “allow schools to provide spring-sport student-athletes an additional season of competition and an extension of their period of eligibility.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the ACC officially canceled the remainder of winter and spring sports activities, both competition and practice, for the 2019-20 school year in a press release, with hopes to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The NC State men’s tennis team will return to Raleigh on Friday, Mar. 13 as the No. 6 ranked team in the country, the highest ranking achieved in program history, to host the Boston College Eagles and the UNC-Greensboro Spartans. The doubleheader will be closed to the general public, per an NC State Athletics press release.
