Wolfpack men’s tennis upsets No. 12 Georgia

Tyler Stocum, Staff Writer • January 27, 2019

Freshman Alexis Galarneau backhands his opponent’s return in a match against Miami University at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center on April 14, 2017. In a double match along with Michael Ogden, the score ended with 6-2 win. In a single match against Christian Langmo, the score ended with 6-4, 6-1. The Wolfpack won the match against Miami University 5-2.

The NC State men’s tennis team traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan this past weekend to take on the 24th-ranked Michigan Wolverines and the 12th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

On Saturday, the Pack (2-1) took on the Wolverines (1-1) in a tough match that ended with a score of 1-4 in favor of Michigan, giving NC State its first loss of the season.

In the first part of the match, the senior twins Igor Saveljic and Ivan Saveljic were taken down 6-1. The Wolverines followed that victory up with a 6-2 win over senior Georgiy Malyshev and sophomore Tadas Babelis, securing the doubles point and giving Michigan an early lead.

The one win of the day for the Pack came in the first singles match from junior Alexis Galarneau. He defeated Michigan’s Mattias Siimar 6-3, 6-2 to stay perfect on the season in singles play.

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Sunday was a bounce back day for the Wolfpack as it took on the Bulldogs (0-2). In a tightly contested match throughout, the Pack prevailed and upset Georgia by a score of 4-3.

This was the highest ranked win in head coach Kyle Spencer’s era at NC State and it also pushed the Pack to a 3-1 record in the early season.

The Wolfpack was down 3-2 late in the match but was able to rally back to a 3-3 score and then finish it off thanks to Galarneau, who battled against 15th-ranked Emil Reinberg from Georgia.

In this final match, Galarneau took the first set 7-5, lost the second 4-6, but then took the crown in the final set with a 6-4 win. This was the highest-ranked player Galarneau has ever defeated in his career at NC State.

Galarneau also participated in one of the doubles matches with redshirt senior Michael Ogden where they coasted to victory. Babelis and Malyshev claimed a point for the Wolfpack in another doubles competition in what was a tightly contested match.

Before Galarneau’s big win that finished the match off for the Wolfpack, the team saw Malyshev tie the match up at three in a three-set match defeating Georgia’s Blake Croyder 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.

After a big Sunday for the Pack, the team will return to action at home next Saturday, Feb. 2 against North Florida at 11 a.m and Winthrop at 5 p.m.