It was a heartbreaking weekend for the NC State men’s tennis team as State faced UNC-Wilmington, Texas Tech, Old Dominion and UNC-Greensboro at the JW Isenhour Tennis Center.
The Wolfpack (10-6) struggled to find doubles teams that complemented each other which lost the team momentum going into singles.
“We’re switching them around right now in order to find the best teams,” junior Simon Norenius said. “We’ll keep on trying and just get better from here.”
The Pack lost 4-3 to UNC-Wilmington Thursday despite a rally to come within a point. It was the first loss at home this season and broke an eight-home-match win streak.
The Seahawks took the doubles point after a tiebreak win on court one. The Wolfpack put up a fight on court three keeping UNCW in a deadlock before the point was won and the match abandoned.
Senior Thomas Weigel and junior Nick Horton put points on the board for NC State both winning in three sets in singles. Freshman Igor Saveljic put the pressure on Seahawk Andres Torres by going to a tiebreaker set. Torres pushed through to take the set away from Saveljic 7-5 in the end.
Friday’s matchup against Texas Tech proved to be no better for NC State. The No. 6 Red Raiders took the match 4-1.
Texas narrowly clinched the doubles point after a strong early start from the Pack. An extreme drop in temperature forced the match to be played until a winner was determined. Texas quickly nabbed the victory with three singles wins.
Weigel made the only point for NC State with a straight set win against No. 87 Alex Sendegeya. The unfinished No. 1 and No. 2 singles courts showed promise had the match continued. No. 83 Norenius split sets with his No. 18 opponent. No. 72 Horton had won his first set and was up 4-3.
Sunday’s afternoon competition versus No. 55 Old Dominion was another 4-1 loss for the Wolfpack. ODU now has an eight-game win streak after winning the doubles point and carrying the success into singles.
Norenius won in straight sets in singles, putting up the only point for State on the match.
“I’ve been playing well individually but we are slacking as a team,” Norenius said. “We’ve got to make some changes in practice but we’ve got to start working harder and working together to get better in the future.”
The junior commented before the final match of the day.
“Hopefully we’ll end this day better than we started,” Norenius said. “We’ll keep on fighting.”
Norenius was right. NC State pulled off a 6-1 win against UNC-Greensboro, its ninth against the Spartans.
The Spartans took the doubles point but the captains Norenius, Weigel and Horton came through in singles putting up three points. Shoti Meparidze also won 6-0, 6-3 on court six. The twins Ivan and Igor Saveljic both had comeback wins on their respective courts.
The ACC schedule begins for the team against Virginia and Wake Forest on the road next weekend.
