No. 14 NC State women's tennis has had its fair share of freshman phenoms in recent years to dazzle the crowd at the JW Isenhour Tennis Center Priska Nugroho in 2022, now sophomore Maddy Zampardo in 2024 and of course Diana Shnaider in 2023, now working their way up by the Australian Open.
After her quick straight-set win over No. 13 Savannah Broadus, you might want to add freshman Michaela Laki to that list.
The Wolfpacks' newest and brightest freshman stunned No. 10 Pepperdine's most formidable player in Broadus on Sunday in No. 14 NC States (2-0), 5-2 win over the Waves (0-2).
The Pack defeated the top-10 Pepperdine team in just the second game of the season, a few days after defeating Campbell (0-1) 7-0 in the season-opening game in Raleigh.
vs. No. 10 Pepperdine, 5-2 win
NC State started its first battle of the season in top form by succinctly winning the doubles round against the Waves. The young pair of Laki and sophomore Kristina Paskauskas defeated Pepperdine's No. 101 ranked duo 6-0, foreshadowing Laki's other ranked upset just a few hours later.
The Packs No. 5-duo Zampardo and sophomore Gabriella Broadfoot secured the point for the red and white with a 6-2 victory on court 1.
It felt like we started really well in doubles, said head coach Simon Earnshaw. We looked good and I wouldn't say we played great, but we were super, super solid. And that carried over into the singles a little bit, but we had very good starts on at least three of the courts, and that gave us just enough rest to get through it and close out the match.
Even against the No. 10 Waves, NC State stayed the course in singles play. Junior Anna Zyryanova dominated her ranked opponent, No. 90 Liam Oved, in a 6-1, 6-0 victory to lift the Wolfpack to a 2-0 lead over their West Coast opponents. However, Pepperdine struck back with a straight-sets victory on Court 3 over Kristina Paskauskas.
As Zyryanova and Paskauskas finished their matches, Laki was closing in on her monumental victory on Court 1. It was a surprise for Laki, an unknown freshman who had played just one collegiate match just a few days earlier, earning the Court 1 nod against one of the best players in the country. Even Earnshaw wasn't sure about the move. However, he had confidence in Laki's ability.
We know what she's capable of and what her resume is, but I think the expectation is that she can play with those players, Earnshaw said. Whether or not she can beat them this early is a bit of a roll of the dice. But it's clear that if you don't roll the dice, you can't win. And she did a good job managing tough starts in both sets.
Despite trailing in both sets, including trailing 4-2 in the first, Laki stayed in it against Boardus and fought. Laki embraced the pressure and won four games in a row, winning the first set 6-4, and ultimately the second set by the same score.
I mean, I was under pressure, Laki said. I knew I had to get the win and I'm very happy with that. I played good tennis, I played at a good level. And I hope I can do more.
Laki's stunning win put NC State in the deciding position at 3-1 and proved a crucial turning point in the match, one in which Pepperdine relied on its veteran stalwart to defeat its inexperienced freshman opponent.
Her win today gave us a huge opportunity to win this game because I'm pretty sure that's what Pepperdine was counting on, Earnshaw said. I bet if you look at how many double match losses Savannah Broadus has, you can count it on one hand in four years. So that was a huge, huge win. And I think a lot of people will look at us a little differently in the future.
Pepperdine managed to make the match closer with a three-set victory over No. 61 Vivian Yang's Broadfoot, making the match 3-2. However, NC State notched its first win of the season with a quick 6-0, 6-1 victory over No. 55 freshman Gabia Paskauskas on Court 6. To close out the match, Zampardo trudged through a narrow three-set win. which ended in a superbreaker in the third set. With Zampardo's final score of 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-4), NC State moved to 2-0 on the season.
vs. Campbell, 7-0 win
Just a few days earlier, the Pack opened the season against Campbell, beating the Camels 7-0 on Friday night.
As it did against Pepperdine, NC State started strong in doubles, capturing courts 1 and 2 thanks to the pairs of Broadfoot and Zampardo and Zyryanova and freshman Mia Slama in 6-1, 6-0 wins, respectively.
In singles, Broadfoot and Zyryanova each won their first matches of the season in a pair of quick straight-set victories with minimal losses.
Laki got her first ever collegiate start against the Camels, defeating her opponent 6-0, 6-3. Laki said she is still trying to get used to college life after arriving on campus a few weeks ago. However, the process has been made easier by her teammates and coaches.
It's kind of weird for me, Laki said. It's just the beginning, it's actually my third week of practice. I'm trying to settle down and honestly the girls have made it so easy for me, they've helped a lot. And the coaches are great. They have really good communication. So I think it helped me a lot to settle down.
To cap off the victory over the Camels, Kristina Paskauskas, Zampardo and Gabia Paskauskas each eliminated their respective opponents in a trio of 6-0, 6-0 losses to complete the sweep.
After the two wins, NC State is ready to hit the road for almost a month, first heading to Knoxville, Tennessee to participate in the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
Despite having a roster of all but one underclassmen, Earnshaw is optimistic about the makeup of his team this season and the future after the Packs' strong first weekend.
“I think we have good energy this year, definitely happy to be here, and optimistic,” Earnshaw said. And I think we're in a pretty good building mode. I think it's really a matter of how long. I definitely think that whether it's this season or we move into the next pair, we look pretty badass, yeah. And I think it's refreshing that we're kind of going after that again.
NC State will play Ohio State on Friday during the ITA Kickoff.
