No. 4 NC State men’s tennis earned its highest-ever ranking in program history last week and followed it up with two more victories over its senior day weekend against Boston College and SMU as it extended its win streak to 13.
The Wolfpack (20-4, 12-0 ACC) returned home from a four-match road trip for a sweeping 4-0 win over the Eagles (4-13, 0-12 ACC) on Friday before setting down SMU (13-17, 1-11 ACC) 4-1 on senior day Sunday.
Versus Boston College, 4-0 win
The Wolfpack’s first win of the weekend came via a 4-0 sweep over Boston College on Friday evening. NC State beat the Eagles in a relatively uneventful match, besting its opponents in two quick doubles matches before trouncing the visitors in singles.
The No. 11 pair of redshirt freshman Jules Leroux and senior Luca Staeheli first took down their opponents in doubles 6-2 on Court 1 before the duo of redshirt freshman William Manning and senior Braden Shick won 6-4 on Court 2. While the freshmen pairing of Noah Gabriel and Nikolay Nedelchev were leading their opponents on the final court, the Pack’s first two wins clinched the round, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead.
NC State started singles off strong with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win from No. 74 Staeheli on Court 2 over Boston College’s Andrew Ilie. Nedelchev earned his first singles win of his college career in a 6-3, 6-1 win on Court 6 to put the Wolfpack in clinch position.
Leroux finished off the Eagles with a clinching win on Court 4 with a 6-3, 6-1 result. The freshman earned the Pack’s 12th straight win with his two-set victory.
Versus SMU, 4-1 win
NC State took down SMU in a much more competitive match that preceded the team’s senior day ceremony on Sunday afternoon. The Wolfpack escaped the doubles round with a heart-pounding victory on Court 1 from the No. 7 dynamic duo of Shick and senior Fons Van Sambeek.
Tied with SMU in the doubles round after Leroux and Staeheli’s 6-4 win and Gabriel and Nedelchev’s close 7-6 (7-4) loss, Shick and Van Sambeek showed out in a round-deciding tiebreaker on their senior day. The two battled SMU’s Ofek Shimanov and Georgi Georgiev in a highly competitive tiebreaker, but the two seniors came through in a 7-6 (10-8) win for the round.
SMU put up a fight in singles, snatching two first sets and a two-set win off of Shick to start the round. However, a strong overall effort propelled the Pack to victory.
“Super solid performance from our team today,” Van Sambeek said. “Some super tight doubles points, with a special ending from me and Braden, and we had to take that momentum, because they’re a good team. … I think overall, as a team, it was a very good effort to beat this team.”
After Shick fell to SMU’s No. 53 Trevor Svajda, No. 74 Staeheli took Court 2 in a 6-2, 6-0 rout while Van Sambeek won 6-0, 6-2 on Court 4. To finish things off, Leroux beat his opponent in a 6-4, 6-1 final result on Court 5 to claim the Pack’s 13th straight win.
After the victory over the Mustangs, NC State celebrated Shick, Van Sambeek and Staeheli in a senior day ceremony.
“Super thankful for these four years,” Van Sambeek said. “It went by super fast and I’m just so happy to have the memories that I have, especially with the guys on the team and the coaches — that’s what means the most to me, by far. And it’ll be tough to say goodbye to them, but we got a lot more ahead of us, so we’re just all trying to enjoy the moment and play good tennis.”
Shick focused on the growth of the three players throughout the years, mentioning happy memories they made off the court while growing up together.
“I feel like we’ve just grown the three of us all together, and it’s really showing this last year, it’s awesome to really start to get the results that we wanted,” Shick said. “But I think the thing that I’ll remember and cherish most is the locker rooms after the practices, after the matches, the team dinners, and just all the memories we have as a team, the funny moments — I think that’s the most special thing.”
Shick, Van Sambeek and Staeheli will be irreplaceable in the Pack’s goal to win its first ACC title since 1979. A major obstacle in its way is No. 1 Wake Forest, who NC State is set to square off with Saturday.
In the highest-anticipated match in years for NC State, head coach Kyle Spencer acknowledged and supported the Pack’s often rowdy and loyal fans who flock to the team’s biggest matches.
“We want to fill the place,” Spencer said. “Everybody come out, it’ll be a party. It’ll be a really, really fun day for college tennis. It’ll be exciting. It’ll be loud. So yeah, we encourage everybody, whether you’re a fan of college tennis or NC State or even Wake Forest. I think packing the place would be phenomenal and a great show of how popular our sport is.”
The Pack’s most important match is set for 5 p.m. Saturday in Raleigh against the Demon Deacons.
