No. 23 NC State men’s tennis suffered its second straight defeat in a 4-0 loss at No. 8 Duke in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Saturday, Jan. 27.
After suffering a lopsided 6-1 loss against another highly-ranked opponent last week in then-No. 11 Harvard, the Wolfpack (2-2) failed to bounce back against a tougher and familiar opponent — the No. 8 Blue Devils (4-0).
NC State’s Tobacco-road rival made short work of the visiting Wolfpack in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. While the Pack showed glimmers of hope for a comeback late into the singles round, the Blue Devils’ doubles win and quick start in singles made the red-and-white’s day in Durham an uphill climb.
Duke advanced to a 1-0 lead in the match with a victory in the doubles round. While seniors Robin Catry and Luca Staeheli were leading their opponents 6-5 on court one, the Blue Devils beat out both of the Pack’s pairs on courts two and three to secure the point.
Juniors Braden Shick and Fons Van Sambeek fell first on court three. Their 6-3 decision followed the conclusion of the rival’s ranked doubles pairings battle on court three. Duke’s No. 14 pair of Michael Heller and Andrew Zhang beat out the Pack’s pair of No. 13 sophomore Martin Borisiouk and junior Joseph Wayand. While “Joe and Bo” tried to battle back from a deficit the entire match, Duke’s lead was too much for the pair to overcome.
The Wolfpack didn’t fare much better in the singles round. Despite NC State and Duke splitting first set victories at three apiece, the Blue Devils quickly capitalized on their first sets with match wins. Thanks to its 1-0 lead from doubles, those three singles wins — all of which came in straight sets — were all Duke needed to put away the Pack.
Duke’s No. 21 Pedro Rodenas downed Van Sambeek 6-2 and 6-4 on court two to start singles. After, No. 52 Wayand fell 6-3 and 6-4 to Duke’s Jake Crug. Before long, NC State was facing a daunting 3-0 deficit.
The red-and-white earned first set victories on courts one, four and five from No. 120 Catry, Staeheli and Shick, respectively. While those players gave NC State some chance of getting back into the match, Duke ended the conversation with a killshot over junior Damien Salvestre on court three.
Salvestre — a potent singles player — played in his first match of the season against the Blue Devils in Durham. However, the junior fell 6-4 and 6-2, marking the end of NC State’s hopes to compete in New York City at the National Team Indoors Championships.
Despite the loss, the Wolfpack’s weekend in the Bull City is not over as it faces Cal in the consolation round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
After falling to Middle Tennessee in a tense 4-3 bout, the Golden Bears are slated to face the Wolfpack on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m.