On Tuesday the No. 54 ranked N.C. State Men’s tennis team hosted the Wake Forest Deacons at Pullen Park for the opportunity to secure the big “W.” The match-up was the first of five home games that will take place in the next two weeks for the Pack.

The Pack headed into Tuesday’s matchup with four back-to-back losses, hoping to secure the win that would potentially start a new winning streak. N.C. State was unable to secure the win over Wake Forest as they fell to the Deacons 5-2 in overall match score.

“I was really disappointed in today’s performance,” Dominic Hodgson, a junior in business administration said. “It was a match that had to be won. As a team we didn’t take advantage of our skill and a few players lacked the confidence needed to follow through.”

The responsibility of singles #1 seed was in the hands of Dominic Hodgson. The #1 seed, usually played by Jaime Pulgar, was given to Hodgson due to an ankle injury suffered by Pulgar during spring break. Hodgson finished the match winning 6-4,6-1 and defeating the No. 63 ranked Wolff.

“It wasn’t my first time playing #1,” Hodgson said. “I have replaced Jaime before whenever he has been sick or injured. But it really doesn’t matter where I play, some players like to look at rankings and some don’t. If I am doing well then I have a shot to win, it’s more about us trying to do a good job.

The Pack headed into doubles with Pulgar/Thomson as the #3, finishing the match with the only win out of the three doubles matches.  Following the 1-2 loss in doubles, arrangements were made on the lineup for singles and Pulgar was placed in the #2 with the full support from both his coach and teammates that he would do well.

“I could have played Jaime at #1,” said head coach Jon Choboy. “However I have been watching the #1 [from WFU] and knew that Dominic would be able to beat him. Both Jaime and Dominic led the team well with what they’re supposed to do.”

Nonetheless Pulgar was able to pull off the win in two sets beating No. 113 Carleton 6-4,6-4 and completing the day with wins in both singles and doubles. Pulgar has been one of the stronger players of the season as his consistency can show. Coming off a minor ankle surgery following spring break, he felt as if he needed to come back early and try to have the opportunity to secure a win for his teammates.

“I haven’t been 100% and the team wasn’t doing well without me,” Jaime Pulgar, also a junior in business administration said. “My partner and I made it through doubles, which helped me to boost my confidence for the singles match.”

The past few weeks the team has had problems with being consistent on an individual basis. Whether it is because of bad break points or losing on final match points such as the doubles matches at Clemson or yesterday’s doubles match, consistency seems to be missing.

“The team has good individuals, but we are not good whole,” Pulgar said. “In order to win, we need four guys winning their matches, not just two or three. You can’t win on separate days, the teams in the ACC are consistent and that is why they do well.”

Coach Jon Choboy continues to try new things as each match comes to an end. He has had to deal with spontaneous changes in his players such as injuries and illnesses that have altered his regular season decisions.

“Throughout the season we have never been able to play our full lineup,” Choboy said. “And when changes are made, it doesn’t help us to lose our doubles matches, that’s twice now we have lost match point in doubles matches.”

Despite today’s loss, the Pack has many matches left through the end of the school year. They continue on their season with four home games, including two left this week. They will be hosting Florida State at Pullen Park April 1 at 3 p.m.