The newly-ranked No. 20 NC State men’s tennis team nearly pulled off the signature win of its 2023 season — an upset of the No. 3 Texas Longhorns in Austin. However, the Wolfpack fell just short 4-3 in a thrilling match.
Going in, the red-and-white was riding a six-match win streak and playing its best tennis of the season. While the close loss to the Longhorns stopped the streak, NC State (10-5) continued its top levels of play in Austin, giving Texas (13-2) all it could handle in the knockdown-dragout match.
NC State started its bid for the upset strong, emerging from the early doubles round with a 1-0 lead. First, the No. 55 pair of senior Robin Catry and junior Luca Staeheli defeated the third-ranked doubles duo in the country 6-3. After the impressive win, Texas got one back on the Wolfpack, taking court two over the No. 29 pair of fifth-year senior Rafa Izquierdo Luque and sophomore Joseph Wayand. But it was redshirt sophomore Braden Shick and sophomore Fons Van Sambeek who secured the point by winning a close match on court three 7-5.
With the lead in hand, NC State got to work in singles. However, it wasn’t long into the round when sophomore Damien Salvestre forfeited on court two, evening up the score at 1-1.
After that, the Wolfpack won two straight matches, putting itself into clinch position at 3-1. Staeheli won via a 6-3, 6-4 decision on court four, while No. 77 Izquierdo Luque beat the No. 1 player in the nation, Eliot Spizzirri, in three sets on court one — 6-2, 3-6, 6-0.
Izquierdo Luque’s noteworthy win boded well for the visitors, but the highly-ranked Longhorns just wouldn’t go away. In fact, they pulled off quite a comeback, winning three straight matches to prevent the upset.
First, Texas claimed victory over Catry on court five in straight sets, then took it to Shick on court three to even the score at 3-3. With the match hanging in the balance, it all came down to Van Sambeek on court six, who was in the middle of a grueling three-set bout. Ultimately, however, he fell in a match-deciding tiebreaker at the end of his third set, granting Texas the 4-3 win.
Despite the end result, NC State continues to play its best tennis of the season, as evidenced by the Pack’s determined and nearly-successful effort against the Longhorns.
Next up, the Wolfpack turns its attention back to conference play with a match against Notre Dame on Friday, March 24. First serve against the Fighting Irish is set for 5:30 p.m. in Raleigh.
