The No. 21 NC State men’s tennis team completed a pair of road matches this weekend where it traveled south to take on two ACC rivals in No. 35 Georgia Tech and Clemson.
The weekend got off to a rocky start for the Wolfpack (10-6, 7-2 ACC), who was easily defeated by Georgia Tech (10-7, 4-5 ACC) in a 6-1 route on Friday, March 26. The Wolfpack bounced back to its winning ways on Sunday, March 28 when it displayed an extraordinary singles performance against the Clemson Tigers (7-11, ACC 1-8), taking the match 4-1.
On Friday, the Yellow Jackets could not be stopped and were able to dismantle the Wolfpack after taking close doubles matches. Georgia Tech dominated the match with the Pack only able to take one match off the No. 35 team. The Wolfpack’s pairing of sophomore Robin Catry and senior Collin Shick was unable to come back on court three and fell in a close 7-5 defeat.
Unfortunately for NC State, the theme of narrow losses would continue when the No. 30 duo of fifth-year Alexis Galarneau and senior Robert Turzak fell in a tight 7-6 (4) tiebreaker loss. This narrow win secured the doubles point for the Yellow Jackets, and its success would only continue on the singles courts.
On that side of the baseline, the Pack was only able to manage one victory, coming at the hands of sophomore Martins Rocens on court six. Rocens was able to take down Chen Dong in a three-set thriller. After losing the first set 4-6, he was able to recover and take the next two 6-2, 6-4.
On courts one and two, the Wolfpack’s No. 13 Galarneau and No. 97 junior Rafa Izquierdo Luque fell in their respective contests in tight two-set matches, losing 7-6(4), 6-2, and 6-2, 6-4, respectively.
The Wolfpack had little time to dwell on that loss as it traveled to Clemson, South Carolina to take on the Tigers on Sunday.
After falling to the Tigers in the doubles openers, giving the first point to Clemson, this match seemed primed to repeat the past for the Wolfpack, but unlike its match against the Yellow Jackets, the Pack was able to shake off the rocky start and win four straight singles matches en route to a resounding victory.
For the Wolfpack, Catry and junior Yannai Barkai were able to keep their opponents to only two games a set, both finishing with a score of 6-2, 6-2.
The domination in singles continued for NC State as senior Tadas Babelis secured a 6-3, 6-3 victory, and Turzak won a close 6-2, 7-6 (9-7) to clinch the match for the Wolfpack.
The victory against the Tigers is a much-needed boost after falling to Georgia Tech in upset fashion. The Wolfpack will look to continue its winning ways in two weeks with another road trip when it faces two local rivals, Duke on Friday, April 9 and UNC-Chapel Hill on Sunday, April 11.
