April 18, 2008

Raleigh, NC (UWIRE) -- With N.C. State and Wake Forest tied 3-3, it would be the No. 6 match between the Wolfpack's Neils Barringer and the Deamon Deacons Aileen Davis that would determine which team would advance to the next round of the ACC Tournament.

After dropping the first three games of her third and decisive set, Barringer, a junior, would storm back to win six straight games securing both the set and the match. The victory clinched the Wolfpack's 4-3 victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.

Coach Hans Olsen said Barringer was great, and her performance definitely helped the team.

"She did a great job with her poise, and she was really strong mentally," Olsen said. "It was a confidence builder for Neils [and] for the team, and I thought they did a great job today."

The team took an early 1-0 lead by winning two of three doubles matches to take the doubles point. Olsen said the way the team came out, especially sophomores Daria Petrovic and Berkeley Brock, sparked the team's performance.

"Daria and Berkeley were very strong in doubles today," Olsen said. "[They were] really strong from the first point, and they finished the match very strong. I thought that was a big key in the doubles today."

Before singles play, Barringer said Olsen gave the team a pep talk to encourage the team.

"He told us to keep it simple and enjoy our time on the court," Barringer said. "Just give it our all out there and have a good time. I think it worked. We all had a good time out there."

State would take a while to get it going as it dropped its first three singles matches. Senior Julia Roach, sophomore Catherine Grotz and Petrovic would lose their matches, giving Wake Forest a 3-1 advantage. With just one more win, Wake would have taken the match from the Wolfpack, knocking the team out of the tournament.

"I actually made this comment to my coach right when I got off the court," Brock said. "I just felt so relaxed and even more so when we played them in the regular season. We talk a lot about when we have fun, we do a lot better."

The wins evened the match at 3-3, leaving it up to Barringer to put the Pack through to the next round. Though she lost the first set, Barringer said the set was long and close.

"In the second set, my coach came out and reminded me to keep it simple and get to the net and put a lot of pressure on [my opponent]," Barringer said. "I was able to put a lot of pressure on her early on. I won it 6-1. In the third set, she came out strong and took some really good shots and took me off guard."

Barringer said her teammates were really supportive, and it helped her through the pressure.

"All my teammates came down the court and really cheered hard for me," Barringer said. "It was really encouraging."

The Pack, who are the No. 8 seed in the tournament, will return to play today at 9 a.m. They will take on the nation's No. 2 team and No. 1 seed Georgia Tech. Olsen said that the team will use the momentum of this win for the match against the Yellow Jackets.

"We won three out of the last four ACC matches, and they [have] all been three-all situations," Olsen said. "We've been playing very good when a match is close. That's one of the things we have to make tomorrow a real battle."

(C) 2008 Technician via UWIRE