Over the break, the No. 36 men’s tennis team kept up the action as it took on several non-conference teams in preparation for this week’s ACC competition. According to sophomore Dominic Hodgson, when you’re on the tennis team there is no such thing as spring break.
“We don’t really get a break on the tennis team,” Hodgson said. “We expected it. It’s just something you have to deal with. It’s going to be frustrating going back to school but we handle it well.”
As the rest of State’s students left campus last Saturday, the Wolfpack dominated William and Mary and Norfolk State at home 5-2, 7-0 respectively. After the William and Mary match, head coach Jon Choboy earned his 100th career win at N.C. State in his eighth year coaching the Wolfpack.
On Monday, the team played its first ACC match, traveling down Tobacco Road to take on UNC-Chapel Hill. State lost 6-1 to the Tar Heels. Freshman Rafael Paez pulled out the sole win for the Pack, defeating No. 107 Ryan Nobel 7-6 (3), 6-3. The win marked his fifth straight for the Wolfpack.
Friday the team traveled to Houston, Texas to complete in the Rice Invitation at Rice University. The Pack went 2-1 in the tournament.
“We made some progress over the matches,” Choboy said. “It’s nice to go to a different area and test ourselves out on the road a little bit. It’s was nice out there—pretty hot too.”
The first match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Pack took the victory, 4-1. After only losing the doubles point, Choboy said he needed to move around the doubles partnerships.
For the Rice match, doubles teams consisted of Jaime Pulgar and Dave Thomson, Fernando Banos and Frideric Prandecki, and Dominic Hodgson and Rob Lowe. The Pack swept the doubles point, even after the switch up.
“I think our doubles, as a whole, was pretty encouraging,” Choboy said “We switched all three of our teams around. All in all it was pretty good.”
The rest of the match was a bit more challenging as State couldn’t muster a singles win against Rice, yet Choboy said he was still pleased with the performance as three of the players lost in close matches in third sets.
The Pack finished the Invitation strong with a 4-0 victory over Tulane. State now is 12-4 on the season and will travel to take on ACC foe Wake Forest on Wednesday. The remainder of the season will be against ACC teams.
According to Pulgar, he said the new doubles teams will be an advantage during up-and-coming ACC play.
“We have a good chance of getting the doubles point in ACC matches,” Pulgar said. “We are going to play three ACC matches this week, obliviously they are going to be tough but we can do it.”
Hodgson continued to say that the team is fully prepared and excited for the matches this week.
“The team is ready for ACCs,” Hodgson said. “We have had a successful season so far and now we get into the nitty gritty of the ACC’s and everyone’s looking forward to it. “
