NC State men’s tennis claimed its fifth win of the season at Princeton, downing the Tigers 5-2 on Sunday, Feb. 12. 

After winning the early doubles point, NC State won four out of six singles matches to claim the  bounce-back victory, one that the Wolfpack needed after falling to Michigan in its match on Friday, Feb. 10. Even though Princeton fought, especially in the singles round, the Wolfpack’s win was never in doubt. 

NC State cruised to an early 1-0 lead thanks to a dominant doubles display. Even though the Tigers extended the match on court three to 5-5, NC State had control of the other two doubles courts. Redshirt sophomore Braden Shick and sophomore Fons Van Sambeek took court two 6-3 while junior Luca Staeheli and senior Robin Catry dismantled their opponents 6-2. 

The Tigers responded with the first singles win of the match when sophomore Damien Salvestre fell in three sets, 7-5, 5-7, 1-6. From there, NC State and Princeton continued to exchange singles matches. Staeheli rolled his opponent 6-1, 6-3 on court four, but Princeton retaliated with a two-set win over senior Martins Rocens on court two. 

From there on out, though, NC State pulled away from the home side. Van Sambeek put the Pack into clinch position at 3-2 with his 6-4, 7-5 win on court six and Shick secured the win with a 7-6, 6-2 victory on court three. The final Wolfpack win came from Catry on court five, who won his three-setter 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to put the match at 5-2. 

After failing to establish a win streak since the first two matches of the season, NC State won’t just relish the win but will aim to build off of it in future matches.  

The next chance for NC State comes in a doubleheader against Elon and Davidson. The Pack’s double-action day is set for Saturday, Feb. 25 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center in Raleigh.