The men’s tennis team (8-0) handled ECU (3-4) 6-1 yesterday afternoon, and later in the day swept UNC-Greensboro 7-0 (2-3) at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center. The team played without senior William Noblitt, junior Nick Cavaday and sophomore Jay Weinacker. According to coach Jon Choboy the three sat out in order to make the them available for ACC play and potential national post-season invitationals.
“You only get so many dates you can play during the year,” Choboy said. “And some of those guys, based on how well they did so far, could get invited to the national tournament. You only get 25 dates, so some of them had four matches in the fall and we have 27 matches in the spring, so you have to sit them out a couple of matches.”
Choboy said the missing players allowed other team members to step up in the absence of their teammates. The missing players also caused the Wolfpack to rely on different doubles teams for needed victories, a task Choboy said the Pack handled well.
Freshman James McGee and junior Ben Zink won both of their No. 1 doubles matches, despite never competing together in doubles.
“They haven’t played together ever, so it was nice for them to come out and build that energy together,” Choboy said.
McGee, who normally plays with Weinacker, said he enjoyed the experience of playing with Zink, who is 5-0 this season in No. 1 doubles with his usual partner, Cavaday.
“He’s different than Jay, but he’s an excellent doubles player,” McGee said. “You can ask Jon Choboy. He’s got great feeling, great touch and you know he’s very competitive and just getting the chance to play with him today was great. But I look forward to getting to play again with Jay.”
All three doubles teams, including the team of senior Andre Iriarte and sophomore Christian Welte and the duo of freshman Frideric Prandecki and graduate student Daniel Schinke, won their respective matches against both ECU and UNC-G.
The doubles performances built momentum for the singles matches, according to Choboy. The singles matches presented several new faces in the top six as well as players playing at a higher position in the lineup than normal. McGee won both of his No. 1 singles matches in his debut as the No. 1 player.
“Just getting the opportunity to play No. 1 is always a good feeling because the players you play are most likely better from the other schools,” McGee said. “I felt I played well.”
Choboy said he was most impressed with his team’s energy, particularly against UNC-G, as the Pack played just hours before.
“Coming out in the second match with more energy than we had in the first was impressive,” Choboy said.
Choboy said this team’s motivation is the best among any team he’s coached at State. He also ventured to say that this may be the best team he’s ever coached.
“This is the only team, really, that I don’t have to motivate these guys,” Choboy said. “That’s a really good sign of what these guys are capable of doing. These guys come to play.”
According to Choboy and teammates, Zink’s energetic play helped spark the short-handed Pack. Zink said his individual performances were good, ecspecially under the circumstances of having a different doubles partner.
“I played well. I think I played with a lot of energy, and I had my team back me up,” Zink said. “McGee played great. It was definitely different playing without Nick, but McGee played well and made shots we needed him to.”
Choboy said he was pleased with his team’s ability to fend off two straight opponents, especially since smaller North Carolina schools tend to compete hardest against the No. 38 Pack.
“These teams that come in and are playing us are going to play their best tennis against us, because if they can come even close to us, they’re really setting themselves up for a good season,” Choboy said. “They’re going to give us their best tennis always. Its a good test for our guys to really come out sharp.”