North Carolina State University Athletics
No. 48 M. Tennis Sweeps Elon 7-0
2/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Raleigh, N.C. - The No. 48 NC State men's tennis team earned its fourth sweep of the young season, with a 7-0 victory against Elon on Friday, Feb. 19.
The Wolfpack began play by taking two out of three doubles matches to gain the first point of the day. Dominic Hodgson teamed with Dave Thomson at the No. 2 spot to beat Philip Nemec and Cody Stauffer-MacDowell, 8-4. Akash Gujarati and Jaime Pulgar paired up at No. 3 to defeat Eric Turner and Clark Howell. The No. 54 duo of Rob Lowe and Frideric Prandecki fell 8-6 to Chase Helpingstine and Alberto Rojas.
Pulgar, who moved into the ITA singles rankings at No. 93, defeated Nemec in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. Lowe fought back after losing the first set, to take the match over Helpingstine 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Hodgson dominated former Pack member Turner to the tune of 6-0, 6-1.
D. Thomson, now ranked No. 106 in singles by ITA, started slowed but finished strong with a 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-1 victory against Rojas.
"Dave [Thomson] had gotten away from playing his game early and this match and in his match against South Carolina," said head coach Jon Choboy. "He's trying not to lose right now. He just wasn't being assertive. Today he was on the ropes, but managed to turn things around and win."
Rafael Paez won easily over Stauffer-MacDowell, 6-2, 6-0. Fernando Banos closed out the day by beating Carlos Arboleda, 6-2, 6-2.
The Pack has a two week layoff before moving to the outdoor courts. Choboy plans to have the team get use to the environment.
"We're going to go outside starting on Monday, said Choboy. "It's a different game outside. We're actually a better outdoor team. We're going to work on conditioning and just reiterate things we've worked on so far."
NC State moves to 6-2 on the year. The Wolfpack's next match will be a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 7 against No. 47 VCU. That will be followed by a 3:30 p.m. matchup versus UNC Asheville.
NC State men's tennis is now on twitter. Follow us at twitter.com/PackMensTennis
Results: No. 48 NC State 7, Elon 0
Doubles
1. Chase Helpingstine/Alberto Rojas (Elon) d. No. 54 Rob Lowe/Frideric Prandecki (NCSU), 8-6
2. Dominic Hodgson/Dave Thomson (NCSU) d. Philip Nemec/Cody Stauffer-MacDowell (Elon), 8-4
3. Akash Gujarati/Jaime Pulgar (NCSU) d. Clark Howell/Eric Turner (Elon), 8-4
Order of finish: 3,2,1
Singles
1. No. 93 Jaime Pulgar (NCSU) d. Philip Nemec (Elon), 6-4, 6-1
2. Rob Lowe (NCSU) d. Chase Helpingstine (Elon), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. Dominic Hodgson (NCSU) d. Eric Turner (Elon), 6-0, 6-1
4. No. 106 Dave Thomson (NCSU) d. Alberto Rojas (Elon), 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-1
5. Fernando Banos (NCSU) d. Carlos Arboleda (Elon), 6-2, 6-2
6. Rafael Paez (NCSU) d. Cody Stauffer-MacDowell (Elon), 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 3,1,4*,6,2,5
4* clinched win
