The NC State men’s tennis team heads to the ACC Championships Thursday to Sunday at Cary Tennis Park.
The Wolfpack (16-7, 6-6 ACC) will arrive at the championships after being defeated by No. 1 Wake Forest in a close match. The experience of losing by only one against the nation’s top team is a good sign for the Wolfpack’s growth and prospects for the upcoming matches.
Last year, the Pack lost 4-0 to No. 1 Wake Forest in the second round of the ACC Championships. This shows that after one year, the Pack is able to hold its own when facing a No. 1 ranked team.
No. 22 NC State, entering the ACC Championships as the seven seed, will face off against No. 39 Miami, holding the 10th seed in the ACC. If the Wolfpack wins, it will go on to play No. 6 UNC-Chapel Hill, seeded second in the ACC.
Earlier this season when the Pack played against Miami, the team had a close 4-3 loss. Some of the Pack’s strongest players fell in the match against the Hurricanes.
Sophomore Alexis Galarneau and junior Igor Saveljic fell to freshman Adria Soriano Barrera and senior Christian Langmo, respectively. Galarneau lost back-to-back sets, 6-4 followed by a 6-2 loss. Saveljic lost his first set 6-4, but came back to take the second set 6-4 before being defeated in the third set 6-3.
Junior Ivan Saveljic and freshman Robert Turzak defeated their Hurricanes opponents. Ivan Saveljic swept his opponent in two sets, 6-4 and 7-5. Turzak had secured his victory in the second and third sets after losing the first set.
Against Miami’s doubles, the Pack held strong, winning two of the three matches. The one loss that the Pack faced is notable since the duo that defeated the Saveljic brothers were none other than Langmo and Soriano Barrera, the same two who defeated two of the Pack’s players in singles.
If the Pack continues to perform the way it has been and can come up with a game plan to deal with the force of the Hurricanes, the Pack will move on to the second round to play against its rivals, the Tar Heels.
NC State will match up against Miami for the first round of the ACC Championships Thursday at 5 p.m.
