Pirates Open Season At NC State

Match 1: ECU (0-0) at No. 8 NC State (2-0)
Date	Monday, Jan. 20
Time	6 p.m. (EST)
Location	Raleigh, N.C. (J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center)
Coverage	Live Stats \ Watch
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUWTennis Instagram: @ECUWTennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Coming off the best year in the program's history, the ECU women's tennis team will try to keep the momentum going as the Pirates open the 2020 campaign at NC State on Monday evening.

"Without question, this is the most challenging schedule we have ever put together," said head coach Tom Morris. "I believe that for our program to continue to improve, we must play better competition. We play two teams ranked in the top-10 in the first month, but more importantly, we have a schedule where every match will be a difficult match. We will have to play very well, to continue to improve and to stay healthy for this to be a good season. We're looking forward to beginning our season this Monday against NC State."

ECU returns seven players from the 2019 squad that went a program-best 22-3, including winning a record 22 straight matches. Leading the way is senior and AAC All-Conference selection Lisa Hofbauer. The Birkfeld, Austria native played all 18 dual matches on court one last season, going 14-4 there and 17-12 overall. She had a slow start to the fall season, playing at top tournaments like the Milwaukee Tennis Classic and ITA All-American Championships, but finished with a flourish by winning her draw at the ECU Invite.

The other senior on ECU's roster is Nastja Rettich, who finished second on the team last year with a 21-6 singles mark and is 8-5 after the fall season. Rettich provided a stabilizing force in the lower half of the lineup in 2019, going 10-1 on court six.

ECU will return four juniors and one sophomore from last year's squad. Alisa Diercksen led ECU with a 23-10 singles mark last year, going 13-2 on court three. She was limited by an injury in the fall and went just 1-2 in singles. Ho Chiao Hsia is 6-5 this year after going 11-9 last year. Victoria Dixon and Sofia Anthony provide depth for the Pirates, winning a combined eight singles matches last year, including a perfect 4-0 in dual matches. Minette Van Vreden opened her collegiate career with a 17-11 singles mark, including 6-4 on court five.

Of the three newcomers on the Pirate roster, Michelle Ncube has the most experience, arriving in Greenville after being named the MEAC Rookie of the Year and First-Team All-MEAC while representing Bethune-Cookman. Ncube has started her ECU career on the right foot, going 8-5 this fall, tying Rettich for the best mark on the team.

Sibel Tanik and Hanna Axelsson both made their collegiate debuts in the fall. Tanik is tied for the team lead in singles wins, holding an 8-6 ledger and winning her individual draw at the ECU Invite. Axelsson finished the fall just 3-6 in singles, but paired with Tanik to form a potent doubles duo. The freshmen tandem went 5-1 together in the fall.

Hofbauer and Diercksen went 2-3 playing against some of the best doubles pairs in the country during the fall. The pair were dominant in 2019, going 19-6 together, including 14-5 on court one, and reached No. 49 in the ITA doubles rankings. Ncube and Rettich began to form a partnership in the fall, going 5-4 together while Hsia and Van Vreden paired together to go 3-3. Hofbauer and Tanik also showed chemistry when they were paired together at the ECU Invite, winning their draw and are 3-1 overall together.

NC State (2-0) will be a stiff test to start the season. The Wolfpack are ranking No. 8 in the ITA Top-25 after finishing 2019 with a 24-7 record and have beaten Furman and East Tennessee State to start this year. Anna Rogers is 10-4 this fall in singles and is ranked No. 18 in the ITA Singles Poll. Adriana Reami (11-4, No. 23) and Alana Smith (10-5, No. 31) are also ranked by the ITA while Lexi Keberle is also 10-5 this fall. In doubles, Smith and Rogers racked up a 12-2 record this fall and a spot in the Oracle/ITA National Fall Championships final, leading to the No. 1 ranking in the ITA doubles poll. Also ranked in doubles are Reami and Jaeda Daniel, with the pair checking in at No. 22 after going 10-6 together so far. The Wolfpack will have a busy few days, taking on both South Carolina and Charlotte at home, before taking on Appalachian State and ECU on Monday.

First serve for the match is scheduled for 6 p.m., on Monday evening at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.

Players Mentioned

Sofia Anthony

Hanna Axelsson

Alisa Diercksen

Victoria Dixon

Lisa Hofbauer

Ho Chiao Hsia

Michelle Ncube

Nastja Rettich

Sibel Tanik

Minette Van Vreden

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