The NC State men’s tennis team begins the fall portion of its dual season this weekend in Cary at the Duke Fab Four Invitational.
Head Coach Jon Choboy is set to start his 13th season with the Wolfpack and is riding the momentum of three consecutive NCAA Tournament bids, while seniors Austin Powell and Robbie Mudge and sophomores Ian Dempster and Nick Horton are all expected to perform for State.
In last year’s tournament, Choboy led his squad to a decisive first-round victory over the Oregon Ducks before falling to the Georgia Bulldogs in the round of 32. The 12-year head coach complimented the team’s doubles play but emphasized a need for steady individual performances when asked how the Wolfpack could break through this year.
“We’re going to be good in doubles again, and we may even be a little bit better, who knows,” Choboy said. “We just have got to be more consistent in our singles play.”
Leading the charge for the Pack in singles will be standout Powell, who, along with teammate Mudge, has garnered some early attention in the national spotlight as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association released its preseason singles and doubles rankings Monday.
This preseason ranking seeds the top 125 singles players and the top 60 doubles teams in the country. Powell enters the season ranked 41st with Mudge at the 99th position in the singles poll.
Powell and Mudge entered their freshman campaigns in 2011 highly touted as the future of NC State tennis. The two have certainly helped the Pack become relevant once again and made the NCAA Tournament in all three of their seasons.
This year, Powell and Mudge look to add to their legacies with the Wolfpack and make a run in the tournament.
“We want to make our last season the best we’ve ever had and the best season in Wolfpack tennis history,” said Powell.
In the doubles rankings, Mudge and his partner, sophomore Ian Dempster, have cracked the top ten and are ranked 9th in the preseason poll.
The dynamic duo of Mudge and Dempster are a must-watch for Pack fans this season. In last year’s NCAA Doubles Tournament, the two made it to the sweet sixteen before falling to the highly-ranked doubles team from the University of California.
In addition to Mudge and Dempster, Horton also proved to be a very powerful doubles player for the Pack.
“Our doubles would go against anybody’s doubles—period,” Choboy said.
However, the Wolfpack are not the only team in the ACC boasting a talented doubles crew as seven teams from the conference cracked the top 30 in the ITA’s preseason poll. Only one ACC team received a higher ranking than Mudge and Dempster: the tandem of Brett Clark and Brayden Schnur from UNC-Chapel Hill. An early rivalry may be in the cards as the two teams from State and Carolina could meet each other on several occasions this season.
“It’s always a rivalry with those guys, and it’s getting more and more so,” Choboy said.
In closing, Coach Choboy emphasized the unselfishness and heart of his squad.
“We’ve got good character guys on our team and we’ve got guys that are going to fight for each other,” Choboy said. “We’ve got guys that are gonna lay out on the line, guys that will suffer immensely to win for this team. It’s going to go a long way. It’s how we won a lot of matches last year, and that’s not different.”
The Wolfpack opens its season at the Duke Fab Four Invitational on Friday at the Cary Tennis Center.
