No. 42 Wolfpack Aiming To Continue Good Form with Weekend Matches

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RALEIGH, N.C. - The No. 42 NC State (15-10, 3-4 ACC) men's tennis team prepares to host its fifth consecutive home match Friday at 4:30 pm at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center, as it welcomes triangle neighbor and ACC opponent Duke (10-10, 3-4 ACC). Following Friday's match, the Wolfpack will head to Louisville, Ky., to face the Cardinals (11-12, 0-7 ACC) at 12 pm Sunday.

Pack in the Polls:
The Wolfpack's upperclassmen all remain in the rankings, checking in at No. 44 (Simon Norenius), No. 77 (Nick Horton), and No. 85 (Thomas Weigel). Norenius, clinched his 24th win of the season and the overall match with a three-set win against Clemson. He remains a consistent leader in addition to Weigel and Horton, who also lead the team in singles and doubles play.

Scouting Report:
After previous back-to-back conference wins, the Pack continues its season with good opportunities to improve on its ACC record.

The Blue Devils will head to Raleigh after coming off of consecutive wins over N.C. Central and Louisville last weekend in Durham, N.C. With the pair of wins, Duke jumped to a 10-10 (3-4 ACC) record, mirroring the conference record of the Wolfpack.

The NC State and Duke rivalry dates back to 1954, and has been largely dominated by the Blue Devils. However, NC State narrowly fell last year in a 4-3 match and is ranked ahead of the Blue Devils going into Friday's match.

Nicolas Alvarez leads Duke in singles play and recently jumped to No. 19 in the ITA poll. He is the only ranked player on the roster. Duke has had three players cycle through the second spot in the lineup and five players rotate between the third spot in the lineup this season.

Louisville is coming off of a 5-2 loss against Duke, and has not won a conference match, but has recent wins over Northern Kentucky, IUPUI, and Michigan State. NC State looks to improve on its 2-4 overall series record against Louisville. Last year, the Pack narrowly fell, 4-3 in a home-match.

ACC Implications:
Following Sunday's match, the Pack will close out the year with matches against three ranked ACC teams in a row. The Pack currently sits in the eighth spot in conference standings, meaning a first-round win in the ACC Championships would mean a match up with the conference's top seed in the second round.

Last Time Out:
The Wolfpack made a big move up the ACC standings with wins over Boston College and Clemson last weekend. The Wolfpack rolled past Boston College, 7-0 and grinded out a 4-3 victory over Clemson. The wins put the Pack on a three-match win streak and moved them from a 1-4 to a 3-4 mark in conference play.

No. 42 Wolfpack Aiming To Continue Good Form with Weekend Matches

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Players Mentioned

Nick Horton

Simon Norenius

Thomas Weigel