NC State
North Carolina
#7 Men's Tennis Falls to #2 North Carolina
3/4/2020 7:54:00 PM | Men's Tennis
RALEIGH - The 7th-ranked NC State men's tennis team fell to No. 2 North Carolina, 0-4, on Wednesday at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
In doubles play, the point came down to court three after No. 13 William Blumberg and Brian Cernoch defeated No. 18 Tadas Babelis and Yannai Barkai, 6-3, on court one while Alexis Galarneau and Robert Turzak got their highest-ranked win of the season with a 6-3 victory over 4th-ranked Mac Kiger and Simon Soendergaard on court two. The Tar Heels took the point with a 6-3 win by Benjamin Sigouin and Rinky Hijikata over Rafa Izquierdo Luque and Collin Shick.
In singles, No. 53 Sigouin was the first member of the Tar Heels with a win as he defeated No. 92 Tadas Babelis 6-3, 6-1.
Cernoch got the 6-4, 6-3 win over Martins Rocens to put UNC a match away from clinching, and No. 85 Josh Peck sealed UNC's win minutes later with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Izquierdo Luque.
HEAR FROM THE PACK: HEAD COACH KYLE SPENCER
"North Carolina is a National Championship contender, and they played better than we did tonight, to be quite honest. I thought the doubles was really, really close, and a great job from Alexis Galarneau and Robert Turzak to beat the No. 4 team in the country. That was awesome.
"It looked like a huge battle at one doubles, and then at three doubles we had a chance to put a little pressure on them late in the set, and we just weren't able to do that. They did a good job. They broke us at 4-3 and did a good job serving it out. Credit to them for the doubles, and then I thought we started really well in singles.
"Alexis (Galarneau) was in a battle with (William) Blumberg, and they always have a battle. It was just one of those where, in the end, they just raised their level and we didn't. We weren't able to sort of match their level tonight. That's just a credit to North Carolina. I'm proud of the guys. I'm proud of where we're at, and it's never fun to lose, but we're at March 4 and we have about 16 matches to go. We're in a great spot and I love my team."
UP NEXT
NC State travels to Blacksburg, Va. for a 12 p.m. matchup at Virginia Tech Saturday, March 7.
RESULTS
No. 7 NC State 0, No. 2 North Carolina 4
Singles
Order of finish: (2, 5, 4)
1. No. 20 Alexis Galarneau (NC State) vs. No. 9 William Blumberg (UNC) 3-6, 2-4, unfinished
2. No. 53 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) def. No. 92 Tadas Babelis (NC State) 6-3, 6-1
3. Yannai Barkai (NC State) vs. No. 67 Rinky Hijikata (UNC) 4-6, 1-4, unfinished
4. No. 85 Josh Peck (UNC) def. Rafa Izquierdo Luque (NC State) 6-2, 6-1
5. Brian Cernoch (UNC) def. Martins Rocens (NC State) 6-4, 6-3
6. Robin Catry (NC State) vs. Simon Soendergaard U(NC) 4-6, 1-3, unfinished
Doubles
Order of finish: (1, 2, 3)
1. No. 13 William Blumberg/Brian Cernoch (UNC) def. No. 18 Yannai Barkai/Tadas Babelis (NC State) 6-3
2. Robert Turzak/Alexis Galarneau (NC State) def. No. 4 Mac Kiger/Simon Soendergaard (UNC) 6-3
3. Benjamin Sigouin/Rinky Hijikata (UNC) def. Collin Shick/Rafa Izquierdo Luque (NC State) 6-3
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Players Mentioned
