Looking Back on the 2006 Wolfpack Men's Tennis Team
6/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
June 5, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. -
2006 Wolfpack Men's Tennis Complete Notes / Statistics
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By Brandon Yopp
Four years into commanding the reigns of the NC State men's tennis program, head coach Jon Choboy and assistant Matt Halfpenny knew this was their year to make a splash. Showing steady and profound progress over their first three seasons in charge, the close-knit coaching duo, seemingly cut from the same cloth, was totally confident in the ability of their squad to come together and make a name for itself when the season began in the early spring semester. Returning all but one of its top-six from the previous season, NC State retained its nucleus that fell just short of reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2005.
This year, however, the Pack had it in spades. Recording a school-record 20 wins, the 2006 edition put the red and white back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999, knocking off six nationally ranked opponents along the way, including two in the top-20. NC State finished the season ranked No. 42 nationally in the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
A total team effort made it possible for NC State to relish the season that was to transpire. Seniors Val Banada and Will Shaw's experience and gritty play helped the team in several close calls throughout the year, especially in ACC play. The duo finished the season ranked No. 56 nationally in doubles by the ITA. Freshman Jay Weinacker led the team in wins with a 23-6 record, with all of his victories coming in straight-sets. Fellow frosh Chris Welte made his presence known, especially late in the year. In addition, Welte earned match-clinching points in both of the Pack's wins against top-20 powerhouses Kentucky and Clemson.
Sophomore Nick Cavaday, who finished the season ranked No. 63 nationally in singles, anchored the Pack's No. 1 spot in the lineup for all but one match that he participated in, picking up 12 wins. Junior Andre Iriarte added 10 wins before being sidelined down the stretch due to injury, while sophomore Ben Zink grabbed six solo points, in addition to joining with junior William Noblitt as the Pack's most successful doubles tandem.
The season, however, truly belonged to Noblitt. Posting a 20-7 record in singles, the Shelby, N.C., native played and won in each of the top-five spots in the solo lineup, collecting 10 wins at No. 3. His team-best 9-2 conference mark earned him a spot on the All-ACC First Team at No. 3 Flight singles.
The team got the ball rolling on Jan. 21, as the Pack opened its season with three home wins against High Point, Gardner-Webb and North Carolina A&T. On Jan. 23 Noblitt was honored with Co-ACC Player of the Week honors after starting the year at 4-0 in singles and doubles.
Eventually reaching 9-0 after a win at No. 19 Kentucky, the program's first ever over a top-20 challenger, it was nearly a month into the season before the Pack stumbled for the first time at No. 34 Louisville, 6-1. Six days later they bounced back, righting the ship with an upset win at No. 31 South Carolina, 5-2.
Sitting at 10-1 with three wins over ranked opponents, Choboy and company stormed into March intent on improving upon its ACC play from a year ago and making the NCAA Tournament field.
"We had very good momentum going into March because we took out three good ranked teams," said Choboy. "We felt like we had a pretty good schedule early in the year, so we were really pleased with what we had accomplished up to that point and the guys were ready to play. We had taken on some strong teams and that was beneficial for us. Some of the teams that we took down, we hadn't beaten in years."
NC State would grab four more home wins in early March before facing its first conference foe. When local nemesis and national power No. 4 Duke came into town on March 8, the team made one of its strongest statements in years. After getting swept in doubles, the Pack's top-six pulled of a Herculean effort, collecting three singles points to knot the score at 3-3. The Blue Devils, however, came out on top, 4-3, but all was not lost with the Pack.
"In a situation like that, when you are that close to potentially taking the match, it's almost a tougher loss than if you just get shelled," said Choboy. "Knowing that you are right there with them until the end, the team that won the ACC, it's a tough loss. That being said, our guys effort reaffirmed that we were going to be in every match that we played for the rest of the year. That really helped the team mentally and it let our guys know that we could compete with anyone."
Five wins (two in conference) later, the Pack grabbed its second win over a top-20 opponent when the No. 18 Clemson Tigers rolled into Raleigh for Senior Day. Marking the last home match for Banada and Shaw, NC State refused to let the Tigers spoil the festivities. Swept in doubles, Banada, Noblitt and Shaw all won their singles matches to force the issue at No. 6 singles. Welte, who dropped his first set, stormed back late and took the match from Brent Twente, handing the red and white its first decision over Clemson since 1978. The win marked NC State's 20th of the season, seemingly cementing an NCAA Tournament birth.
As memorable as the win appeared to be, the Pack had no way of knowing that it would be the team's last victory on the season. With emotional 4-3 losses to No. 24 Clemson in the ACC Tournament and No. 26 Boise State in the NCAA Tournament, the Pack's season ended as quickly as it had began.
But Choboy and the team promise to return next year with the same emotion and finesse that got them to the Promised Land this season. With four of its top-six players remaining in the fold, NC State seems poised for a rousing curtain call to this season's performance upon returning to the courts next year.
"We are losing two valuable seniors, but we have a lot returning, including Andre who missed most of the end of the season this past year," Choboy said. "Andre will be back and he'll be healthy, and that's huge for us right there. On top of that, and the other kids coming back, we have a good recruiting class joining us. With the amount of experience, tournament experience and big match experience, we're very optimistic that we can make another good jump next year. That's the ultimate goal, just like it is every year. We want to continue getting better and working our way up the top."