The NC State men’s tennis team got a ranked win over the No. 25 Illinois Fighting Illini 4-2 in the first day of the ITA Kick-off on Saturday, Jan. 29 in Oxford, Mississippi on the campus of Ole Miss.
The Wolfpack (3-0) lost the doubles point but won four out of five singles matches to defeat the Illini (1-2).
Junior Robin Catry and sophomore Luca Staeheli won their match 6-2, but graduate student Collin Shick and senior Yannai Barkai fell 6-1 and junior Martins Rocens and freshman Fons Van Sambeek fell 6-2 as the Illini took a 1-0 lead.
In singles, freshman Damien Salvestre was the first to the finish line with a 6-3, 6-3 win to tie the score 1-1. Next to finish was sophomore Braden Shick, who won his match 6-1, 6-3 to give the Pack a 2-1 lead.
The Illini then tied up the score 2-2 as Rocens lost his match 6-3, 6-4, but the Pack soon took the lead back as Staeheli won his match 7-5, 6-2. With the Pack needing just one more singles win, Catry came back after losing his first set 6-3 to win the next two sets 6-4, 6-1, clinching the match for the Pack 4-2.
NC State now moves on to the championship match on Sunday, Jan. 30 against No. 18 Ole Miss at 3 p.m. With another win, the Pack would move on to the ITA National Indoor Championships Feb. 18-21 in Seattle, Washington.
