Wolfpack Battles To 4-3 Win Over Northwestern

Thursday, January 18

Evanston, IL

7 PM

NC State

Northwestern University

1/18/2018 11:19:00 PM | Men's Tennis

@PackMensTennis

January 18, 2018

EVANSTON, Ill. – The NC State men's tennis team took down Northwestern in dramatic fashion by a 4-3 score Thursday evening at the Combe Tennis Center. With the win, the Wolfpack improves to 3-0 on the season.

"Great team win today," said head coach Kyle Spencer. "I thought the guys did a great job in the doubles, played very aggressive. Then in the singles, it was just a battle, and credit to the guys that were able to clinch in two sets, Georgiy (Malyshev) and Igor (Saveljic). An unbelievable performance from Tadas (Babelis) to come back from 4-0 down in the third set. Really each guy fought very hard. I'm super proud, and now we have to get ready for Minnesota."

NC State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after quickly taking the doubles point. Igor Saveljic and Ivan Saveljic paired up at the number one spot to beat Northwestern's Ben Vandixhorn and Dominik Stary 6-2. On court two, 32nd-ranked Alexis Galarneau and Michael Ogden picked up a 6-3 win over Nick Brookes and Antonioni Fasano. After coming back from a 3-2 deficit, Tadas Babelis and Georgiy Malyshev led 5-3 on court three when play was stopped.

The Wildcats evened up the match score when Nick Brookes defeated Ivan 6-4, 6-4 on court four and then gained a slight lead when AJ Joshi topped Robert Turzak 6-3, 6-4 on court six.

The juniors got things going for the Wolfpack in singles with two straight-set wins. Igor beat Northwestern junior Ben Vandixhorn 6-4, 7-6 (7) on court three. After winning the first set, Igor battled from being down 2-0 in the second set to force the tiebreaker, which he won to take the match.

On court five, Malyshev's first set went into a tiebreaker, which he won 7-4. Malyshev went up 4-0 in the second frame and did not look back on his way to winning it 6-2 to put the Wolfpack one match away from clinching.

It was Babelis who sealed the deal for NC State in another three-set victory over Northwestern's Dominik Stary. The Wolfpack freshman faced a challenge after losing the first set 6-1, but he went on to win the second set by the same score. Despite going down 4-0 in the final frame, Babelis continued to fight. He only dropped one more game on the way to winning the third set 7-5 to give the Wolfpack its third victory of the season.

Northwestern added another singles win to its final tally as Antonioni Fasano took down No. 16 Galarneau 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

UP NEXT
NC State continues its road trip as it heads to Minneapolis to face Minnesota on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 1 p.m. (EST).

RESULTS
NC State 4, Northwestern 3
Doubles Results
Order of finish: (1, 2)
1. Igor Saveljic/Ivan Saveljic (NC State) def. Ben Vandixhorn/Dominik Stary (Northwestern) 6-2
2. #32 Alexis Galarneau/Michael Ogden (NC State) def. Nick Brookes/Antonioni Fasano (Northwestern) 6-3
3. Tadas Babelis/Georgiy Malyshev (NC State) vs. Chris Ephron/Michael Lorenzini (Northwestern) 5-3, unfinished

Singles Results
Order of finish (4, 6, 3, 5, 2, 1)
1. Antonioni Fasano (Northwestern) def. #16 Alexis Galarneau (NC State) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
2. Tadas Babelis (NC State) def. Dominik Stary (Northwestern) 1-6, 6-1, 7-5
3. Igor Saveljic (NC State) def. Ben Vandixhorn (Northwestern) 6-4, 7-6 (7)
4. Nick Brookes (Northwestern) def. Ivan Saveljic (NC State) 6-4, 6-4
5. Georgiy Malyshev (NC State) def. Chris Ephron (Northwestern) 7-6 (4), 6-2
6. AJ Joshi (Northwestern) def. Robert Turzak (NC State) 6-3, 6-4

#GoPack | @PackMensTennis