At 3 p.m. this Friday, the N.C. State men’s tennis team will host No. 1-ranked Virginia at Pullen Park as it tries to gain some late-season momentum with the ACC Championships coming in two weeks.
This past weekend, No. 28 Miami (12-5 overall, 6-1 ACC) defeated No. 59 NC State (8-11 overall, 0-7 ACC) by the final score of 5-2. The Pack barely fell to the Hurricanes in doubles, as the duo of Dave Thomson and Julian Sullivan were able to secure a doubles win, but the rest of the doubles rotation came up just short.
“We’re disappointed again with what happened with Miami,” Dominic Hodgson said. ”The problem is we’re winning in certain places one day and in another place the next day.”
Today’s match will be the 54th meeting between the Wolfpack and the Cavaliers. State has not had much success against Virginia recently, with the last win against the Cavaliers coming in 1999 when the Pack won 4-3. Nonetheless, individual players have had the opportunity to secure wins against the Cavaliers in the past when it has come to that aspect of the match.
“Numbers are numbers to me, doesn’t matter if you’re 1st or 30th,” coach Jon Choboy said. “It’s going to be a competitive match and will be closely contested.”
The N.C. State-Virginia matchup has always been a tough one for the team. The exceptional skills of the Cavaliers have allowed them to stay ranked No. 1 nationally for quite a while. However, this isn’t the first time the Pack will be facing Virginia. Every season’s matchup between the two teams tends to be filled with energy as the best players compete against each other.
“You’re going to get a tough battle,” Hodgson said. “Last year I had a pretty good match in doubles and in singles and had chances in both. They’re the best team for a reason, so it’s going to be tough work.”
The players are motivated by desire and the goal of finishing strong through the sets. Past matches have been lost to opponents due to tiebreakers and similar nerve-racking points. The team knows it must follow through with all of its hard work and winning is a matter of staying consistent from point-to-point.
The month of March was unforgiving to the Wolfpack, as matches continually came down to single games and tiebreakers for players. But according to Choboy, they are doing what they know best and just have to work on continuity issues.
“I agree that there has been some inconsistency,” said coach Choboy. “We haven’t been able to do it all in the same day. Guys are getting momentum going, and then someone else loses. Continuity is key in any sport but it seems to get interrupted. But I’d say we’ve knocked out some good, nationally ranked guys this season, allowing to keep things contested.”
Hodgson echoed Choboy’s comments that inconsistency has played a big role in the team’s under performance so far this season.
“We’ve come together as a team at the end of the season and it sounds like it should be easy, but it is not as easy as it sounds,” said Hodgson. “It’s not like we have players that never win, it’s just that everyone wins on a separate day. We hope to do well against UVA so that we can go into Sunday with more confidence”
Following today’s match, the Pack will play its final home match of the season as it hosts Virginia Tech on Senior Day at 1 p.m. and honor seniors David Chermak and Rob Lowe for their contributions to the program during their careers at State.
