The No. 16 NC State men’s tennis team did not get the start it wanted in its five-match road trip when it was shut out by No. 14 South Carolina 4-0 in Columbia, South Carolina Friday afternoon.

In addition to the tough road ahead, this match highlighted the teams struggles against highly ranked opponents this year. NC State is now 0-5 against top-15 teams this season. While the Pack has been competitive in some of these matches, most notably in its 4-3 loss against then-No. 12 Georgia, it has been outscored 21-6 when facing top-15 opponents.

For the first time in almost a month, NC State dropped the doubles point to its opponent. The first doubles set ended quickly, as sophomore Robin Catry and senior Collin Shick were defeated 6-1. This was an especially surprising result as the pair had been 4-0 together this season prior to Friday’s match. The doubles point was clinched by South Carolina when the next set finished in a 6-4 defeat for NC State’s junior Rafa Izquierdo Luque and senior Robert Turzak.

Singles play didn’t go much better for the Wolfpack. Izquierdo Luque was the first player to fall when he dropped his singles match 6-3, 6-1 to SC’s No. 32 Daniel Rodrigues. The next two sets were a little more competitive for the Pack as each had a set that was pushed to a tiebreaker. 

No. 95 senior Tadas Babelis and junior Yannai Barkai each dropped their match, 7-6 (1), 6-3 and 6-0, 7-6 (4), respectively. Despite the quick loss, the players whose matches went unfinished were either leading or in tight matches when South Carolina clinched victory.

NC State will be back on the road next weekend for a pair of matches. The Wolfpack will take on two ACC rivals in Georgia Tech on March 26 and Clemson on March 28. There’s no doubt that the Pack will be looking to get back in the win column and gain some momentum.