North Carolina State University Athletics
No. 20 M. Tennis Drops Heartbreaker to No. 41 Rice
2/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
NC State and Rice played for over six hours friday night and the match was knotted at 3-3. Moments later Wolfpack freshman Eric Turner had two break points slip through his fingers to get back in the third set in a 4-3 loss. The Rice Owls (1-1), ranked No. 41 in the ITA, held on after taking the doubles point from the Wolfpack (3-1).
NC State lost a tightly contested doubles point with losses at No. 2 and No. 3 to start the match. The first loss was at No. 3, as James McGee and Rob Lowe fell, 8-4.
The No. 1 doubles combination of Jay Weinacker and Nick Cavaday, ranked No. 16 nationally by the ITA, pulled the Pack even with a strong showing. Rice was serving at 4-3, but the Wolfpack combo reeled off five of the last six games, including a big break while up 5-4, to win 8-5.
No. 2 doubles would decide the match, and it came down to the wire. Derek Stephens, playing in his first match for the Wolfpack, was broken while serving at 7-7. A strong return game from Stephens and Christian Welte, however, helped the State duo break back to force a tiebreak to decide the doubles point. Stephens and Welte couldn't keep the momentum rolling, however, falling 7-2 as Rice took the point for a 1-0 lead in the match.
Singles play was as close as doubles, if not moreso, as five of the six singles matches went to three sets, and five sets went to tiebreaks.
Stephens was the first off the court with the only straight set performance, though he had to battle for an 8-6 win in the tiebreak of the opening set. Stephens then rolled to a 6-2 win in the second frame to level the match at 1-1.
Cavaday took the first set off of Christoph Muller at No. 2 singles before falling, 6-3, in the second. After an injury timeout to work on his back, Cavaday would lose the third set, 6-2, to give Rice a 2-1 lead.
Weinacker was broken while serving at 5-5 in the first set, and his opponent held to take the set. Weinacker responded by jumping out to an early 3-0 lead in the second set before winning, 6-2. He then followed it up with another 6-2 win in the third set to knot the match at 2-2.
The pivotal match of the day came down at No. 1 singles, where the Pack's McGee battled Bruno Rosa. McGee took the first set, 6-4, before an extended second set ended in a tiebreak win for Rosa. McGee came out hot in the third set as he was looking to give NC State a 3-2 lead. Up two breaks at 4-1, McGee lost the final five games of the set as Rosa rallied to give Rice the momentum with the 3-2 lead.
NC State had to win both of the final two matches, at No. 5 and No. 6, for victory, and it nearly pulled it off. Welte came up big in perhaps his most impressive performance in a Wolfpack uniform, winning a three-set classic to pull the Pack even at 3-3. He lost the first set in a tie break, 7-6 (5), then won the second set, 7-6 (6). He secured set point on the shot of the match, a sliding backhand that ended with Welte in a split. Chong Wang hit Welte's backhand into the net, sending the Pack crowd and Welte into a frenzy. He won the third set going away, taking it 6-2.
Meanwhile, at No. 6 singles, Eric Turner was in a third set as well after winning the first set in a tiebreak and falling 6-3 in the second. Turner had two break points on his opponents serve to get back in the match and make it 4-5, but Rice's Dennis Polyakov saved both and took the match as his teammates mobbed him on the court.
NC State returns to the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center this Saturday, Feb. 2 at 2 pm to take on No. 28 Wisconsin.
DOUBLES
No. 1 - Cavaday/Weinacker (NCSU) def. Muller/Knupfer (Rice) - 8-5
No. 2 - Wang/Zivojinovic (Rice) def. Stephens/Welte (NCSU) - 9-8 (2)
No. 3 - Scheil/Rosa (Rice) def. Lowe/McGee (NCSU) - 8-4
Order of finish: 3,1,2
SINGLES
No. 1 - Bruno Rosa (Rice) def. James McGee (NCSU) - 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4
No. 2 - #34 Christoph Muller (Rice) def. Nick Cavaday (NCSU) - 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 - Jay Weinacker (NCSU) def. #45 Ralph Knupfer (Rice) - 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 - Derek Stephens (NCSU) def. Filip Zivojinovic (Rice) - 7-6 (6), 6-2
No. 5 - Christian Welte (NCSU) def. Chong Wang (Rice) - 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-2
No. 6 - Dennis Polyakov (Rice) def. Eric Turner (NCSU) - 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 4,2,3,1,5,6*
* Clinched the match
