The NC State men’s tennis team fell 4-2 to the No. 18 Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday, Jan. 30 in Oxford, Mississippi.
The Wolfpack (3-1) was able to take an early lead in doubles, but only picked up one win in singles as the Rebels (5-0) advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championships.
The Wolfpack secured the doubles thanks to wins from the duos of junior Robin Catry and sophomore Luca Staeheli, and junior Martins Rocens and freshman Fons Van Sambeek. Catry and Staeheli finished first, winning 6-2, but Rocens and Van Sambeek weren’t far behind with a 6-4 win to clinch the doubles point.
Graduate student Collin Shick and senior Yannai Barkai were locked in a tight 5-5 battle when Rocens and Van Sambeek clinched the point.
Rocens was the lone member of the Pack to win his singles match, taking down No. 44 Finn Reynods in three sets.
The rest of the Pack kept things close, only losing in two sets once, but Catry’s three-set loss to No. 28 Nikola Slavic in the top match clinched the win for the Rebels.
Van Sambeek was up 1-0 in the third set of his matchup when play was stopped.
Next up for the Wolfpack is an eight-match home stand starting on Friday, Feb. 4 against Georgia.
