Pirates Battle App State In Home Opener

Match 2: Appalachian State (0-1) at East Carolina (0-1)
The Game	February 5 \\\ 12 p.m.
Venue	Greenville, N.C. (Wimbledon Tennis & Recreation Center)
2021-22 Statistics	East Carolina \| App State
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram

Match 3: East Carolina (0-1) at No. 6 NC State (5-0)
The Game	February 6 \\\ 6 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Live
Venue	Raleigh, N.C. (J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center)
2021-22 Statistics	East Carolina \| NC State
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram

GREENVILLE, N.C. – For the first time since Feb. 29, 2020, the East Carolina women's tennis team will host a match in Greenville, as the Pirates welcome Appalachian State to town on Saturday, followed by a trip to NC State on Sunday evening.

"We are more than excited to be playing at home and in front of the Pirate Nation this weekend," said head coach Kirstin Burgess. ""After a long break from competition, the team is ready to get back on the courts and represent the purple and gold."

East Carolina (0-1) has had a lengthy break after weather forced the Pirates to postpone a scheduled trip to Richmond, Va., for matches against VCU and Temple. ECU has played one match this spring, falling to No. 3 North Carolina 7-0 on Jan. 18. Five Pirates made their dual match debuts in the match against the Tar Heels, including Sofia Cerezo Holgado and Isabella Rivera Ortiz suiting up for their first matches as Pirates. It was also the first match as head coach for Burgess, who had served as interim head coach for a pair of matches before the remainder of the 2019-20 season was cancelled. Saturday's match will be the first home match with Burgess at the helm as well as the first time playing in Greenville for Holgado, Ortiz, Martina Muzzolon, Alisha Hussain, Anne Lou Champion, Ines Bachir and Sofia Becker.

Like East Carolina, Appalachian State (0-1) has played just one dual match this spring and like the Pirates, it was a 7-0 loss to No. 3 North Carolina. Helena Jansen leads the Moutaineers with a 6-3 singles mark and played in the two spot against the Tar Heels. Erika Dodridge competed on court one against North Carolina and she is 5-5 on the year. App State has struggled in doubles, going just 4-13 this season and the Mountaineers have already used 11 pairings, with Dodridge and Ksenia Aleshina the only duo to play together more than twice. App State and ECU were scheduled to meet in both singles and doubles play at the UNCW Fall Invite to close out the fall slate, but rain ended the tournament before the two squads could clash. The last time the two schools met was on Feb. 19, 2020 with App State winning a dramatic 4-3 match that came down to the final singles match. It was just the second time the Mountaineers had beaten the Pirates since 2005, with ECU holding a 12-2 record against App State over that span.

"App State is a relatively new team as well so there should be some interesting matchups," Burgess said.

NC State (5-0) comes into the weekend ranked No. 6 after beating Penn State and Wake Forest at the ITA Kickoff Weekend to qualify for the ITA Indoor Nationals. The Wolfpack already has a pair of ranked wins this season, beating No. 23 Princeton and No. 10 Ohio State and will be taking on No. 21 Tennessee on Friday and South Carolina as the first part of a doubleheader on Sunday. NC State has three players in the ITA's singles rankings, led by Jaeda Daniel at No. 8. Alana Smith (No. 24) and Abigail Rencheli (No. 25) are also ranked in singles while Daniel and Smith form the No. 21 ranked doubles pair. ECU is still looking for its first ever win over the Wolfpack, with the two schools last meeting on Jan. 20, 2020 in Raleigh.

"NC State has continued to improve every year and have achieved that Top-10 goal already this year," commented Burgess. "But I feel like we are more prepared for that higher level than we were against North Carolina."

First serve for the match against Appalachian State is scheduled for 12 noon on Saturday at the Wimbledon Tennis and Recreation Center. Sunday's match against NC State will get started at 6 p.m., inside the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center and fans can watch the match here and follow the live scoring here.

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Players Mentioned

Ines Bachir

Sofia Cerezo Holgado

Anne Lou Champion

Alisha Hussain

Martina Muzzolon

Isabella Rivera Ortiz

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