Men’s Tennis
The NC State men’s tennis team dominated the Wolfpack Invitational this past weekend. On Day 1, the Wolfpack commanded the field with 12 wins, sweeping singles play.
In his first event as a member of the Pack, freshman Paul Spencer won his match in straight sets (6-3, 6-0) over Carlos Sala of Radford University. Nick Horton, Alexis Galarneau and Igor Saveljic all won in straight sets as well.
In doubles play, Horton and Galarneau defeated Gabe Hocevar and Josh Hublitz of UNC-Wilmington, 8-6. The sophomore duo Michael Ogden and Georgiy Malyshev crushed Sebastian Salinas and Damon Roberts of James Madison University 8-3 in the opening round.
The Wolfpack’s control of the opposition continued on Saturday, totaling 13 wins on Day 2.
The singles play of Malyshev, Spencer, Chris Mikrovas, Horton and Galarneau resulted in advanced to the finals in their respective draws. Michael Ogden pulled out the win over UNCW freshman Marshall Warren, but he did not prevail in the semifinal round.
Ivan Saveljic and Mikrovas were victorious in the consolation final, defeating Brett Moorhead and August Simonsen of JMU by a score of 8-3.
On the final day of competition, the Wolfpack swept the final matches. Horton, Spencer and Malyshev completed the invitational with perfect 4-0 records. Horton triumphed over teammate Alexis Galarneau in the red draw. Horton leads the team in wins this year with seven.
Malyshev defeated Chris Humphreys of Elon (6-1, 6-2) in the white draw. Spencer was victorious in his final with a (6-3, 6-2) win over teammate Chris Mikrovas in the black draw as well.
Malyshev and Michael Ogden clinched an 8-4 victory in doubles play over Josh Hublitz and Gabe Hocevar of UNCW.
The Pack will travel to Charlotte for the Charlotte Invite against the UNC-Charlotte 49ers.
Women’s Tennis
The women’s team traveled to Chapel Hill for the ITA Carolinas Regional over the weekend and had many impressive performances.
In singles play, Tayla Stenta entered the tournament as the top seed and in round one defeated Michelle Castro of ECU (6-4, 7-6(5)). She then faced Alexa Abele of Davidson to advance to the main draw singles, she defeated Abele (7-6(3), 6-1).
In the doubles competition, Amanda Rebol and Anna Rodgers were pitted against Campbell University’s Isabel Boada and Georgina Segarra. Rebol and Rodgers prevailed 8-6 and moved on to face Lisa Hofbauer and Celia Ruiz of East Carolina University. The duo again took care of the opposition, defeating ECU’s tandem 8-6.
Bianca Moldovan and Claudia Wiktorin had a bye in the first round, and then defeated Winthrop’s team of Caitlin Cridland and Lauren Proctor 8-5.
Martina Frantova and Tayla Stenta had a bye in the first and then matched up against Clemson’s Ayan Broomfield and Constanza Gorches in the round of 32. In a hard-fought battle where the Wolfpack duo was down for the majority of the match, Frantova and Stenta saved their tournament defeating the Clemson tandem in a thrilling finish, 8-7 (10-8).
On Day 2, the Wolfpack racked up eight more wins in the regional competition.
In singles action, Moldovan eased by Alexandra Andrivot of Campbell, 6-3, 6-0. Frantova swept Elon’s Alex Koniaev 6-2, 7-6(3). Amanda Rebol’s prowess ensued defeating Megan Scholvinck of Davidson in three sets. Anna Rogers prevailed over ECU’s Celia Ruiz in a three set comeback. Claudia Wiktorin, Tayla Stenta and Adriana Reami came up short in their respective matches, falling out of the main draw.
In doubles play, Frantova and Stenta cruised past the Elon tandem of Natalia Janowicz and Maria Paraja of Elon, 8-2. Moldovan and Wiktorin advanced to the quarterfinals defeating Duke’s Christina Makarova and Rebecca Smaller, 8-2. Rebol and Rogers lost for the first time this season in a tight contest against Madara Straume and Sabrina Barisano of UNCW, 8-7(6).
Their lone win in doubles on day two came from Frantova and Stenta defeating Meible Chi and Alyssa Smith of Duke 8-6, to advance in the tournament. Moldovan and Wiktorin fell to Rachael James-Baker and Chloe Ouellet-Pizer of UNC-Chapel Hill, 8-4. Frantova and Stenta were defeated in a tightly contested battle by Ellyse Hamlin and Samantha Harris of Duke, 7-6 (6).
In the final two days of singles, Frantova triumphed over Anna Ulayshchenko of Wake Forest in straight sets and defeated Cassandra Vasquez of UNC-CH in the third round to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. Frantova went on to defeat Alexa Graham of UNC-CH in three sets, but was defeated in the semifinals in three sets to top seed Sara Daavettila of UNC-CH.
In consolation play, Reami beat Ouellet-Pizer of UNC-CH in three sets to clinch the finals. Reami put forth great effort against USC opponent Mia Horvit, but fell short in three sets 3-6, 6-2, 1-0(6). The Wolfpack’s next event is Nov. 4-6 in Lakewood Ranch, Florida for the Dick Vitale Lakewood Ranch Clay Court Classic.
Freshman Nick Horton stretches for a backhand against UNC-Greensboro during the second set of his match on Jan. 18, 2014 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center. Horton won his match 6-2, 6-2 and helped N.C. State defeat the Spartans, 7-0.
