NC State women’s tennis beats No. 1 UNC to win its first-ever ACC title

Prior to this year, NC State’s women’s tennis team had never so much as reached the ACC tournament championship, let alone won it. And for the program to win its first conference title ever, it would have to beat No. 1 UNC, which came into the day 29-0.

It was a tough ask, even for the No. 5 team in the country, but the Wolfpack came out on fire and ran away with a surprisingly undramatic 4-1 victory over the Heels. When these teams met during the regular season, UNC won 7-0.

Freshman Diana Shnaider was extremely impressive, defeating the top-ranked player in the country in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Shnaider, who did not play in the first meeting between these teams, was named ACC tournament MVP.

There have been a lot of firsts for the women’s tennis program lately—a trip to the Final Four, a doubles national title, and now, a conference title. It was the team’s first win over UNC since the late ‘90s, too.

Now they can set their sights onto the NCAA tournament, where they’ve set a high recent standard for themselves. They’re coming off an Elite Eight appearance in 2022, and will be aiming to best that next month. Clearly, they’re capable.