Ronald Nause
Not since 1978 has N.C. State (17-5, 0-4) reached 19 wins in a season, but it will walk into the Curtis & Jacqueline Dail Outdoor Tennis Stadium today at 2:30 p.m. just two wins shy of tying the school record.
The Wolfpack have won three out of their last five matches and are currently ranked No. 36 in the nation. After starting the season at No. 45, State has jumped nine spots in the national rankings.
Boston College (5-11, 0-5) comes into today’s matchup tied for last place in the conference; however, the Eagles boast a youthful cast, possessing more freshmen on their team than sophomores, juniors and seniors combined.
While the Eagles are yet to win an ACC match, the Pack are also seeking their first conference win. Senior Val Banada said there is still an element of pressure to contend with.
“It’s a lot tougher knowing the other teams are fighting for the same thing you are fighting for,” Banada said. “We don’t treat any other teams differently, but playing an ACC school there is a little more pressure in it.”
The doubles tandem of Banada and senior Will Shaw is ranked No. 76 nationally in the combo poll and has a 12-7 record at the No. 1 slot, with two of the victories being earned over ranked opponents.
Shaw said this match will be the team’s first good look at Boston College since it is a newcomer to the ACC this season.
“They’re new to the ACC, and we’ve never played them before,” Shaw said. “We don’t really know a lot about them, but we know they’re a good team and that they’ll be confident. We will try to stick to our gameplan. It’s been pretty successful for us this year.”
Third year coach Jon Choboy said worrying about how his team plays tennis, not the opponent, should be the primary concern for the team.
“All we want to do is take care of our side of the net,” Choboy said. “We would like to be able to go out and play our game the same way against everyone because good tennis players do that. You take your type of game and impose it on the opponent.”
Sophomore Nick Cavaday will work to get State’s first ACC win. Cavaday is currently ranked No. 43 in singles and has competed in the No. 1 slot in all but one match.
“With [Cavaday], he is never going to get an easy day; it doesn’t matter who we play,” Choboy said. “He’s always going to have a tough day; there is no day off for that kid. He’s taking on the best player every day.”
With seven matches before the ACC Championships, this year’s team is looking to leave their signature in the school record book. Choboy said 20 wins for the team is a goal every year and reflects the success of the team as a whole.
“If you can win 20 matches in a season or more, that’s a benchmark of pretty good success,” Choboy said. “We’d like to get to 25, but 20 wins in tennis is a pretty high benchmark.”
Choboy said the team can still play better.
“We have played some very good tennis this year, and we’ve won a lot of very good matches,” Choboy said. “But we still haven’t played anywhere near as clean as we are capable of playing.”
However, in order to accomplish the goal of 20 wins, the Pack will have to sift through a college tennis power conference that claims six teams in the Top 25.
“We know that every match from now on is just as tough as when we played Duke or Wake,” Banada said. “We’re going to have to play our own game against whoever it is and not take anything lightly.”
The players realize that despite Boston College not being ranked, they can still expect a high degree of competition that is consistent with the customary rigors of playing in the ACC.
“The ACC is relentless; every match is going to be a tough one,” Shaw said. “On paper, it’s the strongest tennis conference in the country. In that respect, you don’t really get a break. Every match is an absolute grind.”