The No. 16 NC State men’s tennis team added two more wins to its record, beating Radford 6-1 and NC A&T 7-0 behind impressive performances in both singles and doubles.
The Wolfpack (9-2) is perfect in its three dual-action days this season, outscoring opponents 40-2 across those doubleheaders.
Radford
The Wolfpack beat Radford 6-1 and was met with little opposition both in the doubles and singles rounds as the squad won the doubles point and all but one singles court.
The doubles point was secured by senior Yannai Barkai and sophomore Luca Staeheli in a close 7-6 result. The pairing of redshirt senior Joseph Schrader and graduate student Collin Shick, as well as sophomore Braden Shick and freshman Fons Van Sambeek, also won, 6-5 and 6-4 respectively.
The singles round against Radford went quickly as the Pack easily took the three courts needed to clinch its first victory of the day. Junior Martins Rocens won first, 6-3, 6-2, followed by Van Sambeek on court four, who won 6-3, 6-1. With NC State set to clinch, Staeheli won his match on court one 6-3, 6-3 to secure victory.
Freshman Joseph Wayand also claimed victory on court six, 7-5, 6-1. Braden Shick was the lone member of the Pack to fall in the win, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0.
NC A&T
The Pack fared even better in its second matchup, sweeping the Aggies 7-0 due to impressive singles and doubles performances as the Pack hit its stride in both rounds.
The doubles point was quickly won by the Pack’s lineup, with both pairs easily winning 6-2 on their respective courts. Rocens and Van Sambeek won first, shortly followed by the pairing of freshman Damien Salvestre and Schrader, who made it 1-0 for the Pack.
Wayand took his second singles victory of the day, nearly blanking his opponent as he took the first singles court 6-0, 6-1. He was followed by Braden Shick, who despite losing his first singles match of the day, won his bout in the late match 6-4, 7-5.
In position to clinch, Barkai took his second singles win of the day to secure the match win, 6-4, 6-1. After clinching, NC State took all remaining courts which included Salvestre’s 6-3, 7-5 win on court two and Van Sambeek’s 7-5, 6-4 victory, giving him four match wins in total across the day. Senior Rafa Izquierdo Luque took the last match of the day with a comeback in the second set, winning 6-4, 7-6.
As the Pack moved to 9-2 on the season, it also added onto its current win streak, now winning its last six matches. In turn, the Pack has seen a steady and impressive climb in its ranking which will only improve by continuing the win streak.
Next up for the Wolfpack is its first conference meeting of the year, a home matchup against Boston College on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 12 p.m.
