No. 22 NC State men’s tennis started its 2025 campaign with a doubleheader against Campbell and NC Central, beating both intra-state squads 7-0 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
The Wolfpack (2-0), who didn’t drop a single set on the day, debuted three new freshmen at the bottom of its lineup in the season-opening matches against the Camels (0-1) and Eagles (0-1).
“I’m super pleased with the guys,” said head coach Kyle Spencer. “It’s a long day, obviously, when we play indoors with two matches. But I’m really pleased — everybody got in that needed to get in. Some of the freshmen got three, four matches, which is awesome. They really needed those just to get the seasoning of what it feels like to play a college tennis match.”
Vs. Campbell, 7-0
NC State started its season with a pair of 6-1 wins in the doubles round against Campbell, the first of which came from the pair of No. 102 seniors Braden Shick and Fons Van Sambeek on court 1. Junior Martin Borisiouk and redshirt freshman Jules Leroux took down their Camel opponents on court 2 to quickly advance the match into singles while freshman Noah Gabriel and redshirt freshman William Manning’s match was left unfinished at 5-2 on court 3.
First to strike in singles was No. 17 Shick, who took his opponent down in a 6-1, 6-0 rout on court 1. Leroux followed Shick with a 6-1, 6-3 win on court 4 for his first victory in the red-and-white.
No. 26 Borisiouk took court 2 in a routine 6-1, 6-2 victory to clinch the first win just after Leroux won his debut match. Hailing from Minsk, Belarus, Borisiouk reflected on his time as a freshman, which seemed like just yesterday to the now-junior.
“I’m really happy for the freshmen, for their games,” Borisiouk said. “I know two seasons ago I was in their shoes, and it’s hard to play your first match. I’m really happy for them.”
Despite having to churn through a tiebreak victory for his first set, Van Sambeek earned NC State its next point in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win. To close out the first match of the day, the Pack’s other two freshmen, Manning and Gabriel, earned 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) and 6-4, 6-4 wins, respectively on courts 5 and 6.
Borisiouk said his growth as a tennis player in his few years on the team has gone by quickly — something he hasn’t necessarily noticed day by day.
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“To be honest, you don’t feel it,” Borisiouk said. “You just come to this court every day, practice and you get a little bit better. One shot better today, one shot better tomorrow. … So you’re just growing and don’t realize that you beat a better player today than one year ago.”
Vs. NC Central, 7-0
After the Pack’s 7-0 sweep over the Camels, the red-and-white did the same against NC Central in its afternoon showdown with the Eagles.
Gabriel and Van Sambeek captured the first doubles win of the match in a 6-2 victory on court 3 while the young duo of Leroux and Manning won 6-3 on court 2 to once again earn a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Borisiouk downed his Eagle opponent 6-3, 6-1 to get singles started and was followed by Manning’s 6-1, 6-3 win on court 4 as the freshman earned his second singles victory of the day. Later in the match, Leroux and Gabriel followed with their respective second wins of the day.
Spencer was happy with the high amount of action his freshman saw on the day, speaking to the character of his young players and the leadership of his older ones.
“I think we’re really integrated,” Spencer said. “We recruit by the character of people, and these guys have really folded into the team. And then the seniors — and [Borisiouk] being a junior, really have done a great job of showing those guys what the level needs to be on a daily basis. And they get along great. The team is quite synergistic right now.”
One veteran of the team, No. 97 senior Luca Staeheli, got his first play of the new season in a 6-2, 6-3 win on court 3 which clinched the Pack’s second victory of the year. From there, Van Sambeek earned his second win of the day while Leroux and Gabriel won in straight sets on courts 5 and 6.
NC State will have a month-long road trip, which includes the team competing in the annual ITA Indoor Kickoff event. However, the Pack is set for a showdown with No. 21 Harvard in Raleigh before it hurts the road. NC State lost to the Crimson in Cambridge, Massachusetts last season and is looking for revenge in 2025.
“We’ll have an excited group to go out to and avenge a loss from last year that we took up there,” Spencer said. “And we’re looking to play some high-level tennis going into the Kickoff.”
First serve against the Ivy League titan is set for 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
