NC State men’s tennis is starting to heat up at just the right time as it enters the thick of its conference schedule, which was clearly evident in the Pack’s 4-2 win over Miami on Friday, March 10.
The victory wasn’t just the red-and-white’s fifth win in a row — it also marked the teams best start to ACC play under the tenure of head coach Kyle Spencer. The Wolfpack (9-4, 3-0 ACC) remained undefeated in the ACC with some dominant doubles play and used its singles savvy to bounce the Hurricanes (8-5, 0-3 ACC), no matter how much the opposing side dragged the contest out.
“I think we’re hitting our stride,” Spencer said. “We’re playing good tennis, guys are competing super hard, they’re training with a passion and so I think the sky’s the limit for this group.”
Catry played a key role in the match overall, starting in the doubles round where he and junior Luca Staeheli captured the clinching match to put the Pack up 1-0. Before the No. 55-ranked pair won 6-3, though, the No. 29 pair of fifth-year senior Rafa Izquierdo Luque and sophomore Joseph Wayand got their own 6-3 win on court two.
Miami came back strong to start singles, however, quickly knocking off No. 77 Izquierdo Luque in straight sets on court one. While the Hurricanes certainly continued to give the Pack a fight from there on out, NC State took three out of the remaining four singles points to clinch the match.
First for the Pack in singles was Catry, who cruised to a dominant 6-3, 6-2 win on court four. Next, it was Staeheli’s turn as the junior took his match on court three — 6-4, 6-2 — to put NC State in clinch position.
While it took a long time for the Wolfpack to get the final point, the home side eventually got there thanks to sophomore Fons Van Sambeek’s efforts on court five. Van Sambeek clinched the 4-2 match victory with his clutch 6-4, 6-4 win, sending the Canes home empty-handed and preserving the Pack’s win streak.
The Hurricanes did manage to get one more point before Van Sambeek’s win, though. In perhaps the most entertaining match of the day, redshirt sophomore Braden Shick lost an exciting three-set contest on court two against Miami’s Antonio Prat. However, the result wasn’t enough to threaten the Wolfpack’s lead, no matter how long the match went on.
Only Wayand’s singles match was left unfinished, but the sophomore was also headed towards another NC State singles victory deep into his second set. By then, the victory was locked in with the Wolfpack continuing its upward trajectory with yet another convincing win.
“It’s a great momentum that we have right now,” Catry said. “It’s very precious because we’ve been looking for that since the beginning of the season, and we know we finally have it. We just have to keep building on it.”
With more ACC opponents ahead, there will only be more chances for NC State to build on its current momentum, especially with the team finding its groove at just the right time.
“The ACC is a very strong conference this year,” said senior Robin Catry. “It’s getting stronger every year, so every win we can get in the ACC is awesome.
Next up for NC State is another conference battle — a home match against Florida State on Sunday, March 12 at 12 p.m.
