Over the past five days, the NC State’s men’s tennis team competed in the ITA All-American Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Sophomore Alexis Galarneau, who is ranked 43rd in the nation, made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the singles main draw tournament, defeating three opponents to reach that point, including a victory over Wayne Montgomery of Georgia. Galarneau won 37 games in his first six sets and lost only 18. He won all three matches in straight sets. Galarneau, however, lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion William Blumberg of UNC-Chapel Hill in consecutive 6-4 sets.
Galarneau’s victory over Notre Dame’s Alex Lebedev in two 6-3 sets not only guaranteed him entry into the 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, but also put him in the history books as the first-ever NC State men’s tennis player to advance past the round of 16.
Galarneau and redshirt junior Michael Ogden competed in the doubles main draw where they lost in the first round to the winners of the whole tournament, Johannes Ingildsen and Alfredo Perez from Florida, in 6-2 and 6-4 sets. The team of Galarneau and Ogden played in the men’s consolation doubles tournament as well and lost to the pair from Louisville in a 6-4 set and 7-6 set that went to a tiebreaker.
Galarneau and Ogden were the only two members of the Wolfpack to participate in the tournament as they were the only ones to qualify, Galarneau in both singles and doubles and Ogden being one half of the 14th-ranked doubles team.
Men’s tennis will be back in action Oct. 13-17 in the ITA Carolina Regional in Cary, North Carolina.
Sophomore Michael Ogden returns a ball to opponent J.C. Aragone at the men’s tennis match against Virginia in J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center on March 24. Ogden lost to opponent Aragone after two sets that resulted in scores of 6-4 and 6-1, respectively. The University of Virginia prevailed over the Wolfpack with a score of 0-7.
