Tennis, likely more so than other sports at the collegiate level, features players from all over the world. N.C. State’s men’s team has players from distant lands such as Australia, Sweden, Germany and Spain, and most Division I teams have at least one foreign player on the roster.
But the Wolfpack didn’t have to look far to find one of its best players.
Junior Robbie Mudge, a native of Winston-Salem and graduate of R.J. Reynolds High School, had an easy time making the relatively short trip to Raleigh to continue his tennis career and has been a mainstay on head coach Jon Choboy’s ladder since he arrived.
“[Proximity] was one of the main reasons why I came to State,” Mudge said. “But I thought no matter where I was from, [State] would be the best fit based on the coaching staff and facilities.”
Choboy and his staff had been looking at Mudge for a long time before he even set foot on campus. Coming out of high school in 2011, Mudge was the top-ranked recruit in North Carolina and ranked 40th nationally in a class that also included Wolfpack teammates Beck Bond and Austin Powell, with the latter currently ranked No. 41 in the nation.
“We knew Robbie had a really good track record and was one of the top players in the South and nationally,” Choboy said. “He had a very good junior career.”
Mudge made an instant impact his freshman year, totaling 20 dual-match wins in singles play. He also racked up 13 doubles wins with former teammate Jaime Pulgar, who was the Pack’s top player that season.
As a sophomore, Mudge posted 10 singles wins and teamed with then-freshmen Thomas Weigel to register nine doubles victories in the spring season.
This year, Mudge has 18 singles victories in tournament and dual-match play, good for second on the team behind Powell and boasts a 15-1 dual-match record in doubles with freshman Ian Dempster.
Mudge said he credits Choboy and his staff with helping him perform at an even higher level than when he was recruited.
“They helped me mature as a player and as a man, on and off the court,” Mudge said. “My serve and forehand both needed work coming in, and they did a great job developing that.”
Mudge has been in pressure situations many times during his career, notably earlier this season in a home match against South Carolina on Feb. 9.
After dropping the first set to USC’s junior Kyle Koch, Mudge was a game from defeat in the second set, but bounced back and forced a third, which he won in a tight tiebreaker.
It ended up being the win the Wolfpack needed to clinch the match.
“There’s no other feeling like competing on match day,” Mudge said. “That’s what you train for, and that’s what it comes down to.”
The Pack is currently on a four-match losing streak after three consecutive 4-3 losses to ACC opponents. It’s up to Mudge and the core of experienced players on State’s team to turn things around and lead the Pack to its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
“It’s extremely important, especially with where we’re at right now with a couple guys banged up, to have that experience,” Choboy said. “We knew those guys would be the nucleus of this team for a long time. They can lean on each other and help the younger guys out.”
Mudge and the rest of the Wolfpack will return to action Saturday afternoon against ACC foe Clemson. Match time at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center is set for noon.
