After losing 4-1 last weekend against then-No. 13 Tennessee, the NC State men’s tennis team was back in action on Sunday, Jan. 31. In a hard-fought battle, NC State came up just short of victory when it fell to No. 12 Georgia for its second straight loss. The Wolfpack started the match strong, picking up the doubles point after taking two out of three doubles sets. However, Georgia won the bulk of singles matches over NC State, which gave the Bulldogs a narrow 4-3 victory over the Wolfpack.
NC State dropped its first doubles set 6-2. The Pack tied things up when senior Tadas Babelis and sophomore Robin Cantry won their doubles set 6-4. This set the No. 23 pair of fifth-year Alexis Galarneau and senior Robert Turzak to pick up the doubles point if it could win their set. After a back-and-forth set, Galarneau and Turzak were able to pull out the narrow 7-6 victory to put NC State up 1-0 over Georgia.
The Wolfpack quickly surrendered its lead after Babelis dropped a two-set match 6-2, 6-3. The Pack went on to lose its first three singles matches of the day. Both No. 7 Garlarneau and junior Yannai Barkai were able to pick up a set in their matches, but both came up just short and lost. This left the Wolfpack with its back against the wall as it would need to win out to claim victory over Georgia.
After three straight singles losses, Cantry came up with the Wolfpack’s first singles victory of the day as he made short work of his opponent 6-2, 6-2. Junior Rafa Izquierdo Luque kept the Wolfpack’s comeback chances alive after pulling out an incredible three-set, back-and-forth match 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. With the match tied at 3-3, the team victory would come down to Turzak’s singles match.
Turzak and his opponent split the first two sets, each winning a set 6-3. Turzak struggled early on in the third set, dropping his first two games. He followed that up with a clutch break point of his own and then held service to tie the set at 2-2. The players were back and forth throughout the third set, but Turzak came up just short, losing his match 3-6, 6-3, 5-7.
“Great college tennis match with lots of brutal matches that went the distance with both teams giving their best,” head coach Kyle Spencer told Gopack.com. “Obviously on the four courts at Georgia, when it comes down to last match it’s a long day for sure. Very proud of our team and the effort they gave throughout 5+ hours. We came up a little short on the road today, but it’s very clear we are a tough team to beat.”
Next weekend, the Pack has a pair of matches. It’ll start the weekend taking on UNC-Charlotte before getting a chance at redemption against No. 10 Tennessee, after two straight losses against top-tier opponents.
