North Carolina State University Athletics
State Heads To California For ITA Kick Off
1/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
RALEIGH, N.C. - The NC State's men's tennis team will head to the west coast this weekend for the ITA Kickoff weekend in Berkeley, Calif., to compete with some of the best teams in the country.
The Wolfpack's first match is Friday at 6 p.m. against Mississippi State, while Harvard and California will clash on the other side of the group. The winners will play each other, while the losers of the first match will also play each other in a consolation match.
The Wolfpack will not have it easy. The group is full of competition from top to bottom with all teams being ranked in the top thirty.
What's On The Line?
The tough group will give the Pack an opportunity to make a #STATEment on a national level. If the Wolfpack can win both matches this weekend it will gain entry into the ITA National Indoor Championships Feb. 13-15 hosted by the University of Illinois. Victories against top-30 opponents will also help the team move up in the ITA rankings.
Last Time Out:
The Wolfpack is coming off a strong opening weekend beating No. 34 Northwestern on Friday, and a doubleheader sweep of No. 63 Michigan State and North Carolina Central on Sunday.
State took care of the 63rd-ranked Spartans 4-1, and in the second match of the double header the team beat NC Central 7-0. NC State will look to continue its good form, which helped them rise to 27th in the polls.
ACC POTW Honors
Wolfpack senior Austin Powell won ACC Player of the Week for his performance this past weekend going 3-0 in singles competition and 2-0 in doubles competition.
Choboy's Comments
"We accomplished what we wanted to this past weekend by competing against some very good teams. We didn't want to go into next weekend and have to take a step up in competition. Playing the tough competition this past weekend will serve us well.
"I expect our guys to go out there and compete, continue to play hard and I'd like to see them play smart on the court. If we do that, I think good things will happen.
"We're not worried about what the other team is ranked or what we are ranked. We just want to go out there and control what we can control. I know that sounds like coach speak but it's that simple. We know everyone we play on our schedule is going to be tough, we play in the toughest conference in the country. We are not going to be in shock of anything we see out there." - Head Coach Jon Choboy
Scouting Report:
Mississippi State
-Ranked No. 21 nationally in latest ITA poll
-Swept season-opening doubleheader against Jackson State (7-0) and Alabama State (4-0) in Matt Roberts debut as Bulldogs' head coach.
-Tassilo Schmid, who is ranked No. 63 in the ITA singles poll, leads the Bulldogs.
Schmid won both singles matches he competed in against Jackson State and Alabama State last weekend.
-In doubles, the squad is led by the pairing of No. 23 Julian Cash and Florian Lakat.
Harvard
-Ranked No. 30 in latest ITA poll.
-Defeated William & Mary (5-2) and Marist (5-1) to open the season.
-The Crimson are led by Denis Nguyen, who comes in as the No. 57 rated singles player nationally. He won singles matches against William & Mary and Marist last weekend.
-In doubles, Harvard is anchored by the doubles pairing of No. 7 Denis Nyugen and Brian Yueng. The duo won both matches over the weekend.
California-Berkley
-Ranked No. 15 in latest ITA poll.
-Swept season-opening doubleheader against Pacific (4-0) and UC-Davis (4-0).
-In singles, Filip Bergevi and Andre Goransson, who are ranked No. 93 and No. 106 respectively, lead Cal. Both earned wins in seasoning-opening matches last weekend.
-In doubles, the Golden Bears are led by the pairings of No. 40 Andre Goransson and Oskar Wilberg and No. 42 Chase Melton and Gregory Bayane. Both cruised to easy victories in opening matches.
NC State Athletics Communications student assistants Frank Youngblood and Coleman Wingo contributed to this report.
