Junior Austin Powell hits a backhand during the men's tennis match against Virginia Tech Friday, April 5, 2013. Photo by John Joyner.
The N.C. State men’s tennis team kicked off its spring season this past weekend, hosting the Wolfpack Invite at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center. The Wolfpack welcomed William & Mary and Elon for three days of competition, which featured both singles and doubles matches.
The event began on Friday with State playing eight singles matches against William & Mary. The normal team scoring system was not used; rather, each victory was worth a certain amount of points for each school.
The Wolfpack won seven of eight matches against the Tribe on Friday, highlighted by junior Austin Powell’s 6-4, 6-1 victory over junior Will Juggins. Powell, ranked No. 50 in the nation, will likely be the Pack’s No. 1 player this season.
Junior Robbie Mudge, ranked No. 76 in the country, was also victorious, recording a three-set win over freshman Damon Niquet 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Sophomore Thomas Weigel, ranked No. 82, was the only Wolfpack casualty of the day, falling to senior Ben Hoogland 6-5(6), 6-5(2) in two tiebreak sets.
Senior Sean Weber, junior Beck Bond, sophomore Simon Norenius and freshmen Nick Horton and Ryan Newman all picked up wins for the Wolfpack on Friday as well.
“This weekend was especially good for our younger guys,” Weber said. “Obviously they haven’t played in the team format yet, so it’s good that they get some matches under their belts.”
Saturday featured doubles play as the Pack faced both the Tribe and the Phoenix, and State’s strong play continued as it captured 13 of the 16 matches on the day. The 19th-ranked duo of Weber and Horton netted two victories on the day, first defeating Niquet and senior Ben Guthrie of William & Mary and then beating sophomore Stefan Fortmann and junior Cameron Silverman of Elon by identical 6-3 scores. Weber also teamed with Mudge to beat seniors John Banks and Hoogland of the Tribe 6-3 in the morning session.
Bond and Powell also scored back-to-back victories Saturday afternoon, defeating Hoogland and Banks 6-2 before outlasting Madrid and Gealsen 6-5(4). The matches featured the debut of a new scoring system put in place by the NCAA, eliminating advantage points and mandating a tiebreaker at five-all rather than the customary six-all.
“It puts an emphasis on every point,” Powell said of the changes. “It favors players who are more mentally tough. It’s going to take some getting used to.”
The event concluded on Sunday with eight singles matches, pitting the Pack against Elon. Powell and Weber both gutted through three-set victories. Powell recovered from a tough second set to top Cameron Silverman 6-2, 5-6, 6-4, while Weber outlasted Fortmann 6-5, 5-6, 6-2.
“I kind of squeaked by,” Powell said. “[Silverman] is a great player. I knew it was going to be a matter of staying mentally tough and being patient.”
State swept all its matches on Sunday. Mudge, Norenius, Horton, Bond, Weigel, Newman and freshmen Parker McGuinness and Ian Dempster all registered victories in addition to Powell and Weber.
The Wolfpack open the dual match season by hosting UNC-Greensboro and North Carolina Central on Saturday. The match vs. UNC-G will begin at 10 a.m., followed by Central at 2 p.m.