While the team had its sights set on the ACC Championship trophy this season, No. 11 NC State men’s tennis’ goal of winning its first conference title since 1979 will have to wait at least one more year.
The No. 3-seeded Wolfpack suffered a shocking 4-0 upset defeat at the hands of the No. 6-seeded Florida State Seminoles in the red-and-white’s first and final match of the 2024 ACC Tournament.
Despite being less than a 30-minute drive from campus, NC State didn’t bring the energy needed to overcome a determined No. 17 Seminoles squad in Cary, North Carolina. After losing the doubles point, the Pack had a disastrous start to singles by losing five out of six first sets. While the Pack played better in its series of second sets, it was no match for Florida State and ultimately suffered a quick and merciless shutout loss.
“I thought Florida State was really good,” said head coach Kyle Spencer. “And we weren’t — we weren’t very good. So that gives you the score line. And I think we’ve played quite well, for a long time, and so [there’s] a lot to be proud of. But today just wasn’t our day, that’s for sure. And it was definitely Florida State’s day. So credit to them.”
Before the loss, NC State had gone 10-2 in conference play and was riding a five-match heater that included a win against the Seminoles in Tallahassee, Florida. But by the end of the rematch in Cary, the Pack only won one singles set to the Noles’ eight.
NC State and FSU split the first two doubles matches to begin the ACC quarterfinal. While sophomore Martin Borisiouk and Joseph Wayand fell 6-2 to their ranked opponents on court two, juniors Braden Shick and Fons Van Sambeek won by the same score on three.
With the round decided by court one’s result, the No. 41 pairing of seniors Robin Catry and Luca Staeheli fell 6-3 to put the Pack in a 1-0 hole.
From there, NC State dug further into the hole once singles started. The Seminoles dominated on nearly every court, taking the first set on every court except for court five, where junior Damien Salvestre won 7-5.
The Noles’ impressive singles display and relentless energy earned them quick 6-0 and 6-2 wins over No. 63 Van Sambeek and No. 124 Staeheli, respectively. Soon enough, the Seminoles also claimed first-set victories over No. 53 Catry and No. 76 Shick.
“I just thought they competed really hard,” Spencer said. “On a ball striking level, I thought they were very, very good and pretty put together. And yeah, I just thought they did some things that were very high-level today. And I thought the boys fought, but just didn’t have enough to get over the line.”
NC State fought hard in the second sets, remaining neck-and-neck with opponents on most courts. However, Florida State pulled away one by one and rapidly rattled off its match wins.
First to fall was Van Sambeek, who suffered a final decision of 6-0, 6-4 while Staeheli fell 6-2, 6-3. Players such as Salvestre and freshman Jakub Katuch — who lost his long first set via tiebreak — were still battling on their courts, but FSU put the final nail in the coffin with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Catry on court one.
An overjoyed Florida State team banded together in celebration of its semifinal berth as the Wolfpack was left stunned after having its journey for an ACC Championship not just cut short, but stopped before it even had a chance to begin.
NC State isn’t done quite yet this season, though. The Pack will play in the NCAA Championships in a couple of weeks and still has a chance to host in the first weekend of the tournament.
But for now, Spencer and his squad will look to quickly forget about their loss to the Seminoles and get back to winning ways.
“With all the wins, you let that win feel great for a day,” Spencer said. “And I think for all the losses, you let the loss feel bad for a day and that’s about it. And then you move on and we’ve got a very, very good team and we’ve got a very close-knit team and we just have to get back and keep working like we do and we’ll be fine.”
