NC State
#5 University of North Carolina
No. 16 NC State Hosts No. 5 UNC-Chapel Hill Wednesday, No. 17 Duke Friday To Open ACC Slate
3/13/2018 12:54:00 PM | Men's Tennis
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RALEIGH, N.C. - The No. 16 NC State men's tennis team (10-1) will begin conference play this week with a pair of home matches against its fellow Triangle schools. The Wolfpack is set to play No. 5 UNC-Chapel Hill (11-3, 2-0 ACC) Wednesday and will turn around to face No. 17 Duke (10-6, 1-1 ACC) Friday. Both matches are set for 4 p.m. starts and will be played at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.Â
LAST TIME OUT:
NC State, ranked 25th in the nation at the time, defeated then-No. 22 Tennessee 4-3 on the road last Friday, marking the Wolfpack's first win of the season over a ranked opponent and first over a top-25 opponent since upsetting seventh-ranked Wake Forest in 2016.Â
Despite dropping the doubles point, the Wolfpack earned the victory with wins on four singles courts. Igor Saveljic put NC State on the board in quick fashion, taking care of Preston Touliatos in straight sets. Robert Turzak picked up his own straight-sets win against Nicaise Muamba, and Georgiy Malyshev defeated Luis Valero.
With the team score tied at 3-3, the match came down to Tadas Babelis. The Wolfpack freshman split the opening sets with Tennessee's Adam Walton before gutting out a win in the third set. In a fashion fitting to his dynamic playing style, Babelis aced Walton on match point to hand NC State its victory.Â
WOLFPACK IN THE RANKINGS:Â
With its win against Tennessee, NC State moved up to No. 16 in the Oracle/ITA Men's National Team Rankings. The ranking ties the Wolfpack's season high and marks the fourth-straight week that the team has landed in the top 25.
Individual rankings remained the same, with Alexis Galarneau checking in at No. 22 in singles. In doubles, Galarneau and Michael Ogden sit at No. 38, and Igor and Ivan Saveljic sit at No. 45.Â
PACK TRACKS:
NC State continues to remain solid in singles play through 11 dual matches. Babelis and Malyshev have each picked up nine wins this spring, boasting 9-2 and 9-1 records, respectively. Turzak is 8-2 on his spring season, and Galarneau is 6-3, with three of his wins coming over ranked opponents.Â
Igor is approaching 50 career singles wins. The junior, who ranks second on the team with 15 singles wins this season, has tallied 49 victories with the Wolfpack heading into the week's matches.
The Wolfpack's only loss thus far came at the hands of Texas, which is now ranked 10th in the nation.
SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS:
UNC enters Wednesday's matchup with an 11-3 record, and the Tar Heels are 2-0 in ACC play with wins against Virginia Tech and Duke. The team has three ranked players in No. 1 William Blumberg, No. 39 Benjamin Sigouin, and No. 120 Robert Kelly.
Blumberg earned his rank as the top player in the nation on Feb. 20. He is 5-2 against nationally-ranked opponents this spring, and he won the singles title at the All-American Championship in October.
Blumberg and Kelly are ranked No. 6 as a doubles pair. They are 9-3 this spring and were runners-up in the doubles draw of the All-American Championship. Â
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS:
Duke holds a 10-6 record and will play a match against No. 32 TCU Tuesday night before visiting Raleigh Friday. All six of the Blue Devils' losses were to teams ranked in the nation's top 15. The team was most recently edged by UNC in a 4-3 match played in Durham.Â
Nicolas Alvarez, who is the nation's No. 25 player, is the only ranked Blue Devil. He remains unbeaten through six dual matches and most recently took down UNC's Blumberg, the nation's top singles player.
PROMOTIONS:
Wednesday vs. UNC
- Free pizza (while supplies last)
- Phone wallet and earbuds giveaway to first 100 fans
- Enter to win an NC State prize packÂ
Friday vs. Duke
- Student Wolfpack Club Day
- Wolfpack Tennis tank tops to first 100 fans
- Enter to win an NC State prize packÂ
Players Mentioned
