No. 22 NC State men’s tennis finished its short, two-match road trip with a showdown at No. 8 Virginia, falling 4-3 to the Cavaliers on the road.
Despite putting up a fierce fight and forcing five three-set singles matches, the Cavaliers (10-4, 2-0 ACC) clinched its fifth-straight win against the Wolfpack (8-4, 1-1 ACC) by taking the final singles match of the day over junior Damien Salvestre. Additionally, the early doubles point won by Virginia played a pivotal role in the Pack’s eventual defeat in Charlottesville.
Just a couple days after jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the ACC with a dominant 7-0 win over Virginia Tech, NC State couldn’t replicate its doubles point prowess that it displayed against the Hokies. The Pack attempted to pull off a reverse sweep once Virginia jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but it fell just short.
The red-and-white dropped two matches on courts three and one to concede the doubles to an experienced Virginia team. The Cavaliers downed Salvestre and junior Braden Shick 6-3 on court three while the No. 22 pair of junior Joseph Wayand and sophomore Martin Borisiouk fell 6-4 on court one.
Seniors Robin Catry and Luca Staeheli were locked up at 5-5 with their opponents on court two when doubles play wrapped up and the Cavs took a 1-0 lead.
Virginia doubled its lead with the only two-set win of the day when the Cavs’ Mans Dahlberg defeated No. 124 Wayand 6-3, 6-4.
From there, NC State and Virginia were locked into three-set grudge matches on the remaining five courts. However, the Cavaliers took the next match to jump out to a commanding 3-0 lead, downing No. 61 Catry in three lopsided sets. The senior fell 2-6, 6-3, 1-6 to put the Cavs in clinch position.
Facing a daunting deficit, the Wolfpack battled back, winning three-straight singles matches and nearly pulling off a reverse sweep. First, No. 109 Shick beat Virginia’s No. 50 Dylan Dietrich with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 victory. With Shick able to rebound after dropping his second set, the Wolfpack was on the board.
Junior Fons Van Sambeek won next, getting a ranked win with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 win on court three. Like Shick, Van Sambeek dropped his second set but rallied and put the Pack one step closer to evening the score.
Staeheli, who was battling Virginia’s No. 55 Inaki Montes on court three, won via Montes’ retirement after splitting the first two sets. Staeheli won 6-2 but lost 6-4 before the match score was set at 3-3 with the retirement.
While the final result came down to Salvestre on court five, Virginia’s Alexander Kiefer held a sizable lead over the junior come the third set. Kiefer eventually finished off Salvestre 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, sealing the Cavaliers’ win over the Wolfpack in Charlottesville.
Next, the Wolfpack will return home for two-straight home matches against Clemson and Georgia Tech. First serve against the Tigers is set for Friday, March 8 at 5:30 p.m.
