North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Yale
Men's Tennis Rebounds With 7-0 Triumph Over Yale
2/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 6, 2004
Raleigh, N.C. - NC State rebounded from a 4-3 loss almost a week ago to High Point with a statement win against Ivy League member Yale. The Wolfpack swept all six doubles matches and won two of the three doubles matches for a 7-0 win over the Bulldogs. Conor Taylor, a junior from Dublin and No. 1 in singles for the Wolfpack, fought for the three set win in a terrific match against Ryan Murphy of Yale, an all-Ivy League team selection a year ago. Ryan Johnson and William Noblitt came up big for NC State in place of injured Dennis Myers as the Wolfpack rolled.
Taylor, from Dublin, Ireland, lead the first set 5-4 before Murphy rallied in the final three games to take the first set 7-5. Taylor responded in the second set, forcing the match into a tiebreak with the games all even at six. After falling behind 3-1 in the tiebreak, Murphy moved ahead 6-4, but Taylor responded, fighting off two match points to pull to 6-6 in the tiebreak. The Irishman was unrelenting, winning 8-6 to take the second set while jubilantly pumping his fist to the handful of parents, players and fans watching from the sideline. The match continued before Murphy's diving volley near the net hit the tape, and Taylor closed out the match 7-5, and finished the Wolfpack's 7-0 sweep.
NC State would get on the board first with the doubles sweep, as No. 1 and No. 2 doubles finished roughly at the same time, with Yale and NC State both taking a match. Yale had their only victory of the night at No. 1 doubles, with Murphy and Brandon Wai take Jon Davis and Will Shaw 8-4. Val Banada and Andre Iriarte improved to 2-0 in doubles play this season with a convincing 8-3 win over Johnny Lu and Rowan Reynolds.
With No. 1 and No. 2 off the courts, it was Taylor and Johnson's turn to close the doubles point, as they won 8-4 over Neil Tolaney and Chris Lawler. Johnson played in his first dual match in college, filling in for Myers. Myers and Taylor are the No. 8 doubles pair in the ITA Mideast region, but Myers had to sit out the match with a shoulder injury.
Iriarte staked NC State to a 2-0 lead in the match as he easily defeated Milosz Gudzowski 2 and 2 and No. 4 to improve to 4-0 on the season in combined singles and doubles dual matches. Shaw would soon join Iriarte on the sidelines, finishing off Rowan Reynolds 6-3, 7-5 at No. 3 singles for a 3-0 Wolfpack lead.
Banada was in a battle at No. 2 singles, and after dropping his first set 7-6, battled back against the talented freshman from Yale, Wai. Banada won the tiebreak 7-3 in the second set, before a strong third set win of 6-2 for the clinching match. NC State was up 4-0 and assured of at least the 4-3 victory, but on this night, NC State would fight for every match.
Freshman William Noblitt made the most of his first collegiate dual match, dispatching Tolaney at No. 5 in straight sets, 3 and 0. Noblitt, who won a practice match against an extra player against High Point 0 and 1, won his first official match in dual play for the 5-0 lead.
Moments before Taylor would clinch his match against Murphy, the senior Davis closed out his match for a 6-0 Wolfpack lead. Davis defeated Johnny Lu with a strong opening set 6-3, before falling to the junior from Yale 6-4 in the middle set. The match was decided by a ten point tiebreak, with Davis winning easily 10-4.
The Wolfpack tennis team will practice tomorrow before heading to Blacksburg, Va. for a Sunday showdown with Virginia Tech at 4:00 pm. While the Hokies will be a ACC match starting next year, NC State will travel to Maryland and Virginia Feb. 13 and 14, respectively, for the start of the conference season. The next home match for the Wolfpack will be Feb. 21 at 1:00pm as NC State hosts East Tennessee State at the Varsity Courts on West Campus, adjacent to the J.W. Isenhour tennis complex.
NC State 7, Yale 0 Doubles #1 Murphy/Wai (Yale) def. Davis/Shaw - 8-4 #2 Banada/Iriarte def. Lu/Reynolds (Yale) - 8-3 #3 Ryan Johnson/Taylor def. Chris Lawler/Tolaney (Yale) - 8-4Singles #1 Conor Taylor def. Ryan Murphy (Yale) - 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 #2 Val Banada def. Brandon Wai (Yale) - 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-2 #3 Will Shaw def. Rowan Reynolds (Yale) - 6-3, 7-5 #4 Andre Iriarte def. Milosz Gudzowski (Yale) - 6-2, 6-2 #5 William Noblitt def. Neil Tolaney (Yale) - 6-3, 6-0 #6 Jon Davis def. Johnny Lu (Yale) 6-3, 4-6, (10-4)
