NC State
#22 University of Tennessee
No. 25 NC State Takes Down No. 22 Tennessee, 4-3
3/9/2018 5:28:00 PM | Men's Tennis
March 9, 2018
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The No. 25 NC State men's tennis team came from behind to earn its first win of the season over a ranked opponent, defeating No. 22 Tennessee 4-3 at the Goodfriend Tennis Center to hand the Volunteers their first loss at home this season.
With the win, the Wolfpack improves to 10-1 heading into its first ACC match of the season on Wednesday. The Volunteers fall to 11-4.
"Give Tennessee credit because they made it tough until the end," said head coach Kyle Spencer. "It was a good match from our guys after a tough doubles point. I'm really excited for Robert Turzak. He played a good match at six, and Georgiy (Malyshev) did a great job of closing out his opponent. Igor (Saveljic) gave us momentum, putting points on the board for us so fast, and that was a lot of guts by Tadas (Babelis) to finish out that third set. I'm proud of the team and how hard they fought today over a well-coached Tennessee team."
The doubles point went to Tennessee, as the 73rd-ranked Volunteers duo of Preston Touliatos and Luis Valero won 6-3 over 45th-ranked Igor Saveljic and Ivan Saveljic on court one.
Georgiy Malyshev and Michael Ogden matched up against Tennessee's Timo Stodder and Adam Walton on court three. The match went into a tiebreaker, which Stodder and Walton took by a 7-4 score to swing the doubles point in favor of the Volunteers.
Tadas Babelis and Alexis Galarneau were leading 4-0 in a tiebreaker before play on their court was stopped.
Tennessee extended its lead to 2-0, as No. 20 Stodder took the first singles match of the day 6-3, 6-4 over No. 22 Galarneau.
Igor was the first member of the Wolfpack to tally a win, beating Touliatos 6-2, 7-5 on court two to put NC State on the board for the first time.
Robert Turzak followed suit with a straight-sets win of his own on court six. He cruised through his second set on the way to defeating Muamba 7-5, 6-1 to knot the match score at two.
The Volunteers briefly regained a lead as Scott Jones defeated Ivan 7-6 (4), 6-0 on court five, but Malyshev responded with the tying match on court four. Malyshev took the first set 7-6 (3) and broke Valero's serve on deciding point to win the second set 6-4.
The decision came down to Babelis and Walton playing in a tight matchup on court three. Babelis won the first frame 6-4, but Walton held on to win the second frame 7-5 to force a deciding third set.
Babelis broke Walton's serve on deciding point to go up 5-4 in the final set, as Walton's shot sailed wide to give the Wolfpack freshman an opportunity to serve out the match. He capped his match off with an emphatic ace to put the final team score at 4-3 in favor of the Wolfpack.
That feeling when you serve up a big ace that also happens to clinch the match ?? pic.twitter.com/jLYSs47mts
— NC State Tennis (@PackMensTennis) March 9, 2018
UP NEXT:
NC State is set to open the conference portion of its schedule next week as it hosts its ACC home opener. The Wolfpack will face UNC-Chapel Hill on Wednesday, March 14 and Duke on Friday, March 16. Both matches are scheduled for 4 p.m. starts at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
RESULTS:
No. 25 NC State 4, No. 22 Tennessee 3
Doubles Results
Order of finish: (1, 3)
1. #73 Preston Touliatos/Luis Valero (Tennessee) def. #45 Igor Saveljic/Ivan Saveljic (NC State) 6-3
2. Tadas Babelis/Alexis Galarneau (NC State) vs. Nicaise Muamba/Andrew Rogers (Tennessee) 6-6 (4-0), unfinished
3. Timo Stodder/Adam Walton (Tennessee) def. Georgiy Malyshev/Michael Ogden (NC State) 7-6 (7-4)
Singles Results
Order of finish: (1, 2, 6, 5, 4, 3)
1. #20 Timo Stodder (Tennessee) def. #22 Alexis Galarneau (NC State) 6-3, 6-4
2. Igor Saveljic (NC State) def. Preston Touliatos (Tennessee) 6-2, 7-5
3. Tadas Babelis (NC State) def. Adam Walton (Tennessee) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
4. Georgiy Malyshev (NC State) def. Luis Valero (Tennessee) 7-6 (3), 6-4
5. Scott Jones (Tennessee) def. Ivan Saveljic (NC State) 7-6 (4), 6-0
6. Robert Turzak (NC State) def. Nicaise Muamba (Tennessee) 7-5, 6-1
#GoPack | @PackMensTennis
Players Mentioned
