The NC State men’s tennis team continues its hot start to the beginning of the season thanks to a victory over Minnesota, 4-3, on Saturday in Minneapolis.
The Pack’s (4-0) triumph relied heavily on singles performance, winning four of six matches against the Gophers (0-1). The Wolfpack’s performance was similar to its previous match which it also came out on top 4-3 over Northwestern.
No. 16 sophomore Alexis Galarneau won his match in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, over Minnesota’s No. 35 Stefan Milicevic. This was Galarneau’s first win of the year in a singles match.
Both juniors Ivan Saveljic and Georgiy Malyshev successfully defeated their opponents. Saveljic took Gopher Josip Krstanovic to three sets in a comeback effort, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), while Malyshev easily dispatched Marino Alpeza of Minnesota. The Slovakian coasted to a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win.
The Wolfpack continued its superior play thanks to freshman Robert Turzak. Turzak claimed his victory over Gopher Eli Ogilvy 6-2, 6-3.
Freshman Tadas Babelis and junior Igor Saveljic weren’t as lucky, however, falling 6-4, 7-6 (5) and 6-4, 6-4 respectively, to Minnesota in singles. Babelis gave his all against Minnesota’s No. 73 Martin Spec. The Vilnius, Lithuania native forced a tiebreaker, but ultimately his comeback wasn’t enough.
Despite the loss, Babelis has done quite well his first year with NC State. He has won all three of his single matches prior to Minnesota. He even won one of his double matches with teammate Malyshev against Winthrop.
Doubles matches were a bit rough for the Wolfpack. The team was unable to win any of the three matches.
Igor Saveljic couldn’t find success in the doubles either. He and his brother Ivan’s chemistry couldn’t click and they lost to the Gophers’ No. 26 duo of Spec and Felix Corwin 6-2.
This was the first doubles match this season the twin duo has lost. Against Northwestern and Gardner-Webb they won each match by a score of 6-2. Facing Winthrop, the score was tied 4-4, but the match was halted due to NC State sealing the match on another court.
The duo of redshirt junior Michael Ogden and Galarneau duo that won against Northwestern and earned a No. 32 ranking had a tough time against Minnesota before the match stopped at 5-4.
The third loss for the doubles matches came from Malyshev and Babelis. The pair struggled mightily against Milicevic and Marino Alpeza and failed to bother the Gopher duo, losing 6-3.
Despite a rough day for doubles, the Pack still had solid singles performances and will be moving its attention to Elon University on Feb. 9 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center at 5 p.m.
