NC State Hits the Road for Matches at No. 30 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Texas

RALEIGH, N.C.– The No. 35 NC State men's tennis team will hit the road for the first time in over a month as it travels to take on a pair of ranked Big 12 opponents over the weekend. The Pack (10-3) will match up against No. 30 Oklahoma State on Friday at 4:30 p.m. EST and will then head to Austin to visit third-ranked Texas on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST.

The matches mark the Pack's final non-conference contests of the season before the squad heads into the bulk of conference play.

MATCH INFO:
NC State vs. Oklahoma State
Friday, March 8 • 4:30 p.m. EST
Live Stats • Live Streaming

NC State vs. Texas
Sunday, March 10 • 2:00 p.m. EST
Live Stats • Live Streaming

LAST TIME OUT:
The Pack picked up its third straight win by sweeping the visiting Penn Quakers to improve to 10-3 on the season.

NC State started strong by winning the doubles point in dominant fashion and went on to battle through a slew of three-set singles matches to ultimately take the win by a 7-0 score.

PACK IN THE POLLS:
NC State is ranked No. 35 as a team in the Oracle/ITA Division I Team Rankings. The Pack has been featured in every poll since it first jumped into the rankings on Jan. 30.

Alexis Galarneau made an impressive jump in the singles rankings after adding more ranked wins to his résumé. The Laval, Canada native checks in at No. 25 in the latest poll after a successful start to his junior campaign. Galarneau is 9-1 on the spring in singles action, including five wins over ranked opponents.

MILESTONE TRACKER:
Senior Ivan Saveljic picked up the 50th singles win of his Wolfpack career in NC State's most recent match against Penn. He defeated Jason Hildenbrandt in straight sets to secure the milestone victory and joined his brother, Igor Saveljic, as the second active player on the team to post at least 50 career wins in singles action.

Georgiy Malyshev (49) and Galarneau (48) are also approaching the 50-win milestone.

BARKAI'S STREAK:
Yannai Barkai extended his team-best winning streak to eight matches with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) victory over Penn's Dmitry Shatalin on Monday. The Wolfpack freshman has not dropped a singles match since Jan. 27.

SCOUTING THE COWBOYS:
After an 8-4 start to its spring season, Oklahoma State is ranked No. 30 in the nation as a team. The Cowboys boast one ranked singles player, as senior Artur Dubinski checks in at No. 85, and a ranked doubles pair, as Mathieu Scaglia and Maxim Tybar are tabbed at No. 22.

Oklahoma State leads the all-time series between the two teams by a 3-0 count.

SCOUTING THE LONGHORNS:
Texas owns a 13-1 record heading into Sunday's match, including a perfect 7-0 record at the Texas Tennis Center. The Longhorns advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in February and reached the semifinals of the national tournament before falling to eventual champion Ohio State, the team's only loss of the season. Texas has posted wins against three opponents ranked in the national top 15.

The Longhorns are ranked No. 3 as a squad. Christian Sigsgaard (No. 4) and Yuya Ito (No. 9) both own spots in the top 10 of the singles rankings, and Harrison Scott checks in at No. 49. Sigsgaard and Scott are also ranked in doubles, checking in at No. 13 in the nation.

Texas leads the all-time series between the two teams 2-1. The Pack last matched up against the Longhorns at home in 2018 in a match that Texas won by a 4-1 score.

UP NEXT:
NC State will return home next weekend for a pair of ACC matches. The Pack is set to host Virginia on Friday, March 15 at the Cary Tennis Park and will be back at the J.W. Isenhour on Sunday, March 17 to host Louisville.

#GoPack | @PackMensTennis

NC State Hits the Road for Matches at No. 30 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Texas

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Players Mentioned

Yannai Barkai

Alexis Galarneau

Georgiy Malyshev

Igor Saveljic

Ivan Saveljic