The No. 20 NC State men’s tennis team defeated Virginia Tech 4-1 in the second round of the ACC Championships in Rome, Georgia, on Thursday, April 21.

Through dominant doubles play and a strong singles showing, the Pack won its tournament debut and earned a spot in the third round on Friday, April 22. After quickly winning the doubles point and securing two of its three singles courts in straight sets, NC State started its postseason campaign in strong fashion against the Hokies.

To start, NC State easily took a pair of 6-1 doubles wins to jump out to an early 1-0 lead. Junior Robin Catry and senior Yannai Barkai took court two and were closely followed by the sibling doubles duo of redshirt freshman Braden Shick and graduate student Collin Shick who claimed victory on court three.

In singles, the Pack was able to increase its lead through three impressive singles wins, all coming from three freshmen that rounded out the bottom of NC State’s singles lineup. The young core of this team has proved to be vital for the Pack’s success and today was no different.

Braden Shick was the first of these freshmen to strike in singles, winning in straight sets on court six, 6-3, 6-4. While the freshman put the Pack up 2-0, Virginia Tech would win its only point of the day on court two, defeating junior Martins Rocens.

Up 2-1, NC State was able to add to the lead when freshman Fons Van Sambeek secured his 6-2, 6-4 victory on court five that put the Pack in clinch position at 3-1.

The third Wolfpack singles win was not as easy, but freshman Damien Salvestre took the final victory of the day in three hard-fought sets. After splitting his first two, Salvestre had to go to extra games in the third, but impressively pulled out a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win to put away the Hokies.

With NC State’s clinch, senior Rafa Izquierdo Luque and Catry were stopped on their courts after splitting their respective first two sets.

With a strong showing in both singles and doubles against Virginia Tech, NC State will look to continue this form against the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels. UNC and NC State split their prior two matchups this season, adding to the already highly-anticipated matchup between the rival schools in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Championships.

The Wolfpack is set to face the Heels on Friday, April 22 at 12:30 p.m. as the two sides battle for a spot in the semifinals.