North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Tennis Heads to Northwestern
2/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 24, 2012
Season Stats 
| Game notes | Live stats
RALEIGH, N.C. – Well-rested and confident, NC State’s No. 48 men’s tennis team heads to Northwestern on Saturday for its second road match of the season.
The Wolfpack (10-1) has had nearly two weeks since its last three matches, a pair of 7-0 victories over William & Mary and UNC Greensboro on Feb. 12 and a 5-2 victory over No. 48 South Carolina on Feb. 11. In that time, the Pack has moved up three spots in the Campbell’s ITA Collegiate Tennis rankings.
Nine of State’s ACC-leading 10 victories have come at the Isenhour Tennis Center, as have all six victories in the ACC’s longest current winning streak. Starting with Saturday’s match, however, seven of the Pack’s next 11 matches are on the road, which will be an opportunity for growth for a team with two three seniors and three freshmen in its regular starting lineup.
“If you're going to be good, you have to learn to win on the road,” said Wolfpack head coach Jon Choboy. “You might as well get used to it.
“Northwestern is going to be a strong team in the Big Ten, so this will be a good test for us.”
The Wolfpack, without an ailing Jaime Pulgar in the lineup, beat Northwestern 5-2 last season, despite being swept in doubles. Saturday’s match begins at 1 p.m. Live stats are available at the link above.
This season, the No. 57 Wildcats (7-2) opened the season unranked, but have steadily improved, going 2-2 against ranked teams, with wins over No. 51 Ohio State and No. 58 New Mexico.
They have won five of their six home matches this season, with the only setback being a 5-2 loss to Notre Dame on Feb. 7. Northwestern also split its two matches in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, losing to No. 43 and host Vanderbilt and beating unranked Middle Tennessee State.
The Cats’ lone ranked player is No. 111 Spencer Wolf (7-2), a junior who has played primarily at Nos. 2 and 3 this season. Junior Sidarth Balaji (2-6) has played No. 1 singles in seven of his team’s nine matches and at No. 2 once.
Northwestern has been strong in doubles play, losing the doubles point only once this season in its loss to the Commodores. Josh Graves and Wolf are 6-2 at No. 1 doubles, while Alex Pasareanu and Raleigh Smith are 7-2 at No. 2 and Balaji and Tobias Reitz are 4-1 at No. 3.
The Wolfpack’s only loss in doubles this season was in its setback against No. 7 Kentucky in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
Two-time All-ACC player Pulgar, who just entered the individual rankings at No. 110, is now one of two ranked players in the Wolfpack lineup, along with No. 124 freshman Austin Powell of Muscle Shoals, Ala.
Powell and fellow freshman Robbie Mudge of Winston-Salem, N.C., remain undefeated on the season with a combined 16-0, while freshman Beck Bond of Meriden, Conn., has lost just once in his first six matches.
Mudge (9-0) has won matches at Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. He’s played the majority of his matches at No. 3, where he is 6-0. He played his first match in the No. 1 slot against UNC Greensboro’s Orcun Seyrek. After losing his first three games, Mudge came back to win 12 of the next 13 games to take a 6-4, 6-0 victory. He has yet to lose a set this season.
Powell (7-0) has won three matches at No. 4 and three at No. 5. He also won his only match at No. 2 earlier this season. Powell had a successful fall tournament season, posting a 9-3 record in his four tournaments. He has a combined 16-3 record in his initial season.
Beck (5-1) lost his first match of the season to South Carolina’s Kyle Koch, 6-2, 6-2, after the overall match had been secured by the Wolfpack. He bounced back to win his next two to help State remain undefeated.
“We're getting ready to go into some hostile environments and our young guys are going to have to be ready to handle that,” Choboy said.
