The No. 20 NC State men’s tennis team came up just short in a comeback attempt in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Championship, narrowly losing 4-3 to No. 17 UNC-Chapel Hill on Friday, April 22.
NC State found itself down 3-0 after the Tar Heels won the doubles point and two quick singles matches, but the Pack fought its way back into the match with some gritty singles performances. With the match tied at 3-3, the Heels took the final court that hosted an intense three set match between ranked opponents, ending NC State’s run in the 2022 ACC Championships.
This match-deciding battle on court one had dramatic moments in all three of its sets. No. 91 NC State senior Rafa Izquierdo Luque battled No. 33 Brian Cernoch in a ranked clash between the rival schools’ number one seeds. After splitting the first two sets, both of which ended in tiebreakers, Cernoch and Izquierdo Luque battled for the third set to decide the match. After gaining a 3-1 lead in the set, Cernoch won five games in a row, downing Izquierdo Luque and the Wolfpack.
To get to this point however, NC State strung together a series of impressive singles wins all while the Heels threatened to clinch at 3-0. The first to put the Pack on the board was No. 113 junior Robin Catry, who won a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 match on court three. Catry was just the first of three straight clutch singles wins to keep NC State alive against UNC.
Redshirt freshman Braden Shick helped NC State close in on the Heels with his win on court six. Braden Shick won 6-4, 7-5 in straight sets, claiming his second win in the ACC Championships and continuing to show his value in the young lineup of singles players for NC State.
To tie the match at 3-3, freshman Damien Salvestre completed a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) win on court five. Like Braden Shick, Salvestre continues to prove his value to the singles lineup, winning match after match in clutch fashion all season long.
NC State ultimately failed to capitalize on this series of singles performances to complete the potentially epic comeback against UNC. However, early losses put the Pack in a difficult position and provided little to no margin of error for the rest of the lineup to work with.
Early in the match, UNC claimed the doubles point, winning two matches in a row over Catry and senior Yannai Barkai as well as Braden Shick and his brother, graduate student Collin Shick. UNC claimed two more quick points on courts four and two in the singles round, beating the No. 43 duo of sophomore Luca Staeheli and junior Martins Rocens.
Despite these early losses, the Pack still put on an encouraging and impressive comeback attempt against the Heels, falling just short of advancing to the semifinal round in the ACC Championships. Now holding a 1-2 record against the Tar Heels on the season, NC State and UNC will continue to be a premier matchup in men’s college tennis as rivalry matchups between the two never seem to disappoint.
NC State will look to find more success in the NCAA Championships, the first and second rounds of which are set to start Friday, May 6.
