To start the final stretch of its regular season, No. 22 NC State men’s tennis cruised to a 5-2 win over Virginia Tech in Raleigh on Friday, April 7.
The Wolfpack’s (13-7, 7-2 ACC) win over the Hokies (8-13, 2-7 ACC) came from a strong showing in both doubles and singles. While Virginia Tech’s record may not show it, the Hokies can give teams trouble if not careful, but the Pack shut down the visitors’ hopes of an upset with a quick clinch at 4-1.
“I thought we played a great match,” said fifth-year senior Rafa Izquierdo Luque. “It was a really good team performance today — it took every single one of us.”
NC State got it going right from the get-go, securing the early doubles point thanks to a clutch doubles win by Izquierdo Luque and sophomore Joseph Wayand via a 6-4 decision. Before that, redshirt sophomore Braden Shick and sophomore Fons Van Sambeek won 6-3, but the No. 15 pair of senior Robin Catry and junior Luca Staeheli fell on court one, leaving it up to Izquierdo Luque and Wayand to take care of business.
After the 1-0 lead was secured, the Wolfpack had a successful singles round, earning three of the first four match wins to clinch its seventh ACC win of the season. The highlight of the round was No. 61 Izquierdo Luque’s impressive 6-4, 6-2 win over the Hokies’ No. 46 Ryan Fishback on court one.
“I think the man of the match, so to speak, was probably Rafa — he beat a pretty good singles player there and got it in straight sets,” said head coach Kyle Spencer. “That really helped us, and then the rest of the boys — Fons, Luca and Robin — really, really good stuff. I think overall, quite pleased with the performance.”
All three of those players — Van Sambeek, Staeheli and Catry — got the Pack’s remaining three singles wins. If you blinked, you would have missed Catry bludgeoning his opponent 6-0, 6-1 on court four for NC State’s first singles win, but soon after, Virginia Tech responded with a straight-sets win over Shick on court three, putting the score at 2-1.
From there, Izquierdo Luque notched his win to put the Pack in clinch position, and Van Sambeek followed it with a straight-sets win of his own on court five via a crushing 6-2, 6-1 decision.
After Van Sambeek clinched it, Staeheli finished a three-set comeback win on court two. After losing his first set and gutting out his second, he took his third easily for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 win. The Hokies got one more point by the end of the night, however, with their win over freshman Martin Borisiouk on court six. The freshman fought hard but ultimately fell in the match-deciding superbreaker 10-5, putting the final scoreline at 5-2.
With the win, the Wolfpack started its daunting final stretch of the season off strong. Playing four matches in one week is never easy, but NC State isn’t afraid of the challenge.
“I think we’re ready,” Izquierdo Luque said. “We’re facing really tough teams, like Virginia Tech today, and it’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of energy from every single one of us, and I think we’re gonna be ready.”
Next on the list for the Pack is No. 8 Virginia, the 2022 NCAA Champions and a regular at the top of the ACC and nationwide standings.
“We’re talking about the reigning NCAA champions — I don’t think they’ve lost an ACC match in two-plus years,” Spencer said. “With that being said, every match in this league is tough. We get them at home, which is obviously nice, but they’re very good. They’re very good and we’ll have our hands full.”
NC State’s clash with the Cavaliers is set for Sunday, April 9 at 12 p.m. in Raleigh.
