NC State
#6 University of North Carolina
Wolfpack Falls To UNC-Chapel Hill In ACC Quarterfinal Match
4/27/2018 9:11:00 PM | Men's Tennis
April 27, 2018
CARY, N.C. - The No. 22 NC State men's tennis team's run at the 2018 ACC Men's Tennis Championships ended in the quarterfinals as it fell 4-0 to sixth-ranked UNC-Chapel Hill Friday at the Cary Tennis Park.
With the loss, NC State has a 17-8 record on the season as it heads into the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm really proud of our guys," said head coach Kyle Spencer. "There was a lot of fight out there. That was really good tennis. It wasn't our day today. North Carolina did a really good job today. They have a lot of seasoned guys that executed game plans and were really tough. I give them a lot of credit, but I'm excited for where our program is going, where we're at right now, and where we're going to go in the NCAA Tournament. We're right there, and I'm excited about that."
The outing started with a tightly-contested doubles point, which the Tar Heels narrowly took with wins on courts two and three.
UNC's Simon Soendergaard and Mac Kiger took the first doubles court of the day, defeating Tadas Babelis and Georgiy Malyshev 7-5 on court three.
On court two, 50th-ranked Alexis Galarneau and Michael Ogden held serve to put the match score at 6-6 and force a tiebreaker for the match, but UNC's Blaine Boyden and Ben Sigouin edged the Wolfpack duo 7-5 in the breaker.
Igor Saveljic and Ivan Saveljic challenged the nation's top-ranked duo of William Blumberg and Robert Kelly on court one. Their match, which was tied at six apiece, was stopped in the beginning of a tiebreaker after UNC-CH clinched the doubles point.
"What an amazing doubles point," said Spencer. "I couldn't be more proud of how our doubles has developed over this season. Here we are with the NCAA finalists from last year, and we're right in there."
The Tar Heels sealed the deal with three straight-set wins in singles.
They extended their lead to 2-0, as No. 87 Kelly defeated Ivan 6-2, 6-0 on court four.
Third-ranked Blumberg and 45th-ranked Galarneau found themselves in a close first set on court one, but Blumberg went on to edge Galarneau 7-5, 6-0 to put UNC-CH a match away from the clinch.
On court five, Boyden beat Malyshev by a 7-5, 6-1 score to give the Tar Heels the win and advance them to Saturday's semifinal match.
UP NEXT:
NC State will await the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which is set to air on NCAA.com on Tuesday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m.
RESULTS:
No. 6 UNC-Chapel Hill 4, No. 22 NC State 0
Doubles Results
Order of finish: (3, 2)
1. Igor Saveljic/Ivan Saveljic (NC State) vs. #1 William Blumberg/Robert Kelly (UNC-CH) 6-6, unfinished
2. Blaine Boyden/Benjamin Sigouin (UNC-CH) def. #50 Alexis Galarneau/Michael Ogden (NC State) 7-6 (5)
3. Simon Soendergaard/Mac Kiger (UNC-CH) def. Tadas Babelis/Georgiy Malyshev (NC State) 7-5
Singles Results
Order of finish: (4, 1, 5)
1. #3 William Blumberg (UNC-CH) def. #45 Alexis Galarneau (NC State) 7-5, 6-0
2. Tadas Babelis (NC State) vs. #30 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC-CH) 3-6, 6-4, unfinished
3. #123 Igor Saveljic (NC State) vs. Simon Soendergaard (UNC-CH) 4-6, 4-4, unfinished
4. #87 Robert Kelly (UNC-CH) def. Ivan Saveljic (NC State) 6-2, 6-0
5. Blaine Boyden (UNC-CH) def. Georgiy Malyshev (NC State) 7-5, 6-1
6. Robert Turzak (NC State) vs. Mac Kiger (UNC-CH) 4-6, 3-5, unfinished
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Players Mentioned
