The NC State men’s tennis team made the semifinals at the ACC Championship this weekend by beating Miami 4-2. It lost to top-seeded Wake Forest in the semifinal match 4-2.
Overall, the Wolfpack delivered a very strong outing. It reached the semifinals for the first time in program history and was able to keep up with Wake Forest: a 28-3 juggernaut which boasts the No. 4 ranked team in the country and the top seed in the ACC.
Against Miami, the Wolfpack came out firing and easily won the doubles point. Junior Alexis Galarneau and redshirt senior Michael Ogden took down the pair of Adria Soriano Barrera/Stephen Madonia 6-4, while seniors Igor and Ivan Saveljic ousted Bojan Jankulovski/Dane Dunlap 6-1.
In singles, Igor Saveljic (6-4, 6-3) and sophomore Tadas Babelis (6-1, 6-3) scored two more points for the Wolfpack, giving NC State a commanding 3-0 lead. After Miami won two matches to close the gap to 3-2, senior Georgiy Malyshev won against William Grattan-Smith by a score of 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4 to send NC State to its first-ever semifinal appearance.
The Wolfpack saw its tournament run end in the next match as it faced off against Wake Forest. The doubles point was extremely close, as both teams scored a point and the deciding match between Igor/Ivan Saveljic and Bar Botzer/Petros Chrysochos of Wake Forest came down to tiebreakers. In the end, Wake Forest came out on top 7-6 (4).
In the singles matches, sophomore Robert Turzak struck quickly, earning a decisive 6-1, 6-1 win over Rrezart Cungu. Malyshev (6-4, 7-6 (5)) also took home a win on court six, but the Deacons took control on courts two, three and five to secure the match 4-2.
The Wolfpack now awaits its fate as the NCAA bracket will be announced on Sunday, April 29.
