NC State
Columbia University
NC State Falls Short to No. 9 Columbia
2/4/2024 7:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis
RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State men's tennis dropped a 4-3 decision to ninth-ranked Columbia on Sunday afternoon at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center, with the Lions winning four-straight singles matches to claim a tightly-contested victory.
The Pack started the afternoon off with an exhilarating win in doubles action, moving ahead 1-0 early after taking two of three doubles matches.
Fons Van Sambeek and Braden Shick made quick work of their doubles match against Columbia's Jayden Templeman and Sachin Palta, with the Wolfpack taking a 6-2 victory to move within one match of clinching the doubles point.
Both the additional doubles bouts required a tiebreaker, with Robin Catry and Luca Staeheli dropping their match to Theo Winegar and Michael Zheng at 7-6.
Immediately after Columbia knotted the doubles score at 1-1, Joseph Wayand and Martin Borisiouk clenched the point with a 7-6 (7-5) win over Max Westphal and Nicolas Kotzen in a matchup of top-25 ranked doubles pairings. With the win, Wayand and Borisiouk, who entered Sunday's matinee ranked at No. 13 in the country, secured NC State's third doubles point in its last three matches dating back to the Wolfpack's 4-0 victory over Cal on Jan. 28.
The Pack picked up a pair of wins in singles play, with Catry and Shick each delivering a two-set victory. Catry met Zheng for the second time of the afternoon in their singles contest, with Catry avenging his earlier doubles loss in a 6-4, 6-4, win over the nation's 24th-ranked player.
Shick won his two sets of singles play by even larger margins of victory, defeating Ishaan Ravichander 6-2, 6-3.
After moving ahead 3-0, the Wolfpack suffered four-straight losses in its singles slate, with Van Sambeek, Staeheli, and Damien Salvestre each dropping their singles contests.
The afternoon's match came down to Borisiouk facing Columbia's Hugo Hashimoto in the final singles bout of the day. The two opponents, who both came into the match as substitutions, faced off in a three-set match, with Hashimoto emerging the victor. Hashimoto took the opening set at 7-5, while Borisiouk followed that up with a win of the same score in set two. A 6-4 third-set win by Hashimoto in the final frame clinched a win for the Lions, who now sit at 4-1 on the season while NC State fell to 4-2 with the loss.
The Pack will return to the J.W Isenhour Tennis Center Sunday, Feb. 25, in a doubleheader against Elon and North Carolina Central starting at noon.
Singles competition
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#120 Robin Catry (ST) def. #24 Michael Zheng (COL) 6-4, 6-4
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Alex Kotzen (COL) def. Fons Van Sambeek (ST) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
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Nicolas Kotzen (COL) def. Luca Staeheli (ST) 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4
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Braden Shick (ST) def. #106 Ishaan Ravichander (COL) 6-2, 6-3
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#110 Max Westphal (COL) def. Damien Salvestre (ST) 7-5, 6-3
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Hugo Hashimoto (COL) def. Martin Borisiouk (ST) 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
Doubles competition
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Theo Winegar/Michael Zheng (COL) def. Robin Catry/Luca Staeheli (ST) 7-6 (7-3)
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#13 Joseph Wayand/Martin Borisiouk (ST) def. #21 Max Westphal/Nicolas Kotzen (COL) 7-6 (7-5)
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Fons Van Sambeek/Braden Shick (ST) def. #56 Jayden Templeman/Sachin Palta (COL) 6-2
#PackRisin | @PackMensTennis
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
4,1,2,3,5,6
Players Mentioned
