RALEIGH, N.C. – Illinois Women's Tennis suffered a 4-0 loss to No. 3-ranked NC State Saturday morning from Raleigh, N.C., to open ITA Kick-Off Weekend on the Wolfpack's home courts. The action took place outdoors at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.

"Credit to NC State, as there is a reason they are ranked No. 3 in the country," opened head coach Evan Clark. "They are a very good team, and their depth certainly makes it difficult to find momentum during the dual match. I'm so pleased with how our team competed and put ourselves in position to win the doubles point and several singles spots. We had several opportunities but couldn't quite capitalize. We really like where this team is at and really do think this team can do a lot of great things as the season progresses. We will look to get back on track tomorrow and add one to the left column."

The Illini move to 1-1 on the season after last weekend's victory at Kentucky and has a quick turnaround to their third match of the season. Illinois will wrap up ITA Kick-Off Weekend play on Sunday at 10 a.m. CT, against the loser of No. 21 Vanderbilt and Furman.

It took all three courts to decide the doubles point, which the host Wolfpack would ultimately win. NC State took the first decision on Court 3, 6-3 before Emily Casati and Josie Frazier defeated No. 60 Abrams and Rencheli by the same score to even doubles at 1-1. Court 1 would come down to a tiebreaker that the No. 8-ranked NC State duo would claim by a score of 7-3.

Each Illini doubles tandem is now 1-1 on the duo season.

NC State's lineup feature two ranked doubles duos and each of its top four singles players owned a top-100 ranking as well.

Josie Frazier (Court 3) was the only Illini to earn a win in the first set of singles action while No. 70 Ashley Yeah won her second set to force a third on Court 2. The top three Illini singles courts would go unfinished as the Illini were ahead or gaining momentum on each.

Court 5 was the first to finish as Kasia Treiber fell 6-2, 6-2 followed by Megan Heuser taking a 6-2, 6-3 loss to No. 97 Sophie Abrams on Court 4. Those results would put NC State up 3-0 in the match.

Eyes turned to Court 6, where Kida Ferrari suffered a first-set loss before tying the second at 5-5. However, Anna Zyryanova was able to grab the last two games for a 6-4, 7-5 victory and give NC State the 4-0 win.

HOW ITA KICK-OFF WEEKEND WORKS

Each team is guaranteed two matches, one each day of the regional. Winners and losers from Saturday's showdown will compete on Sunday. Results from the weekend will determine who advances to ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The Indoor Championships will be held in Seattle, Wash. Feb. 10-13. 

FULL RESULTS

DOUBLES

Court 1 – No. 8 Miller/Rajecki (NC State) def. No. 19 Kate Duong/Megan Heuser – 7-6 (3)
Court 2 – Emily Casati/Josie Frazier def. No. 60 Abrams/Rencheli (NC State) – 6-3
Court 3 – Smith/Zyryanova (NC State) def. Kida Ferrari/Ashley Yeah – 6-3

SINGLES

Court 1 – Kate Duong vs. No 13 Alana Smith (NC State) – 6-7 (3), 5-3, unfinished
Court 2 – No. 70 Ashley Yeah vs. No. 23 Amelia Rajecki (NC State) – 3-6, 6-4, 2-2, unfinished
Court 3 – Josie Frazier vs. No. 25 Abigail Rencheli (NC State) – 7-5, 4-3, unfinished
Court 4 – No. 97 Sophie Abrams (NC State) def. Megan Heuser – 6-2, 6-3
Court 5 – Gina Dittmann (NC State) def. Kasia Treiber – 6-2, 6-2
Court 6 – Anna Zyryanova (NC State) def. Kida Ferrari – 6-4, 7-5

ORDER OF FINISH:

Doubles – 3, 2, 1
Singles – 5, 4, 6