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RALEIGH NC State men’s tennis coach Kyle Spencer has preached a championship season mentality for months. Now, championship season is finally here.
The No. 23 NC State men’s tennis team starts ACC Tournament play on Friday (6 pm) at the Cary Tennis Park versus the winner of the Wake Forest/Virginia Tech contest.
The Wolfpack (15-8, 9-3) is the No. 3 seed and rides into the tournament on a two-game winning streak.
“I think we are playing good tennis up and down the roster,” Spencer said. “I think we have a big group of guys contributing. The foundation of how the program is built is that every single guy is a valuable asset in the team competition.”
Two individuals (Rafa Izquierdo Luque/Luca Staeheli) are ranked in the ITA singles polls. Izquierdo Luque and Staeheli are joined by Robin Catry and Joe Wayand in the doubles polls.
NC State secured the historic ninth ACC on April 14, defeating Boston College. That was definitely worth celebrating, but now it’s time to shift focus on the goal of winning their first ACC title since 1979.
“I think every team realistically knows that every single match is going to be a battle,” Spencer said. “Everybody besides (freshman) Martin Borisiouk has gone through the ACC tournament, the NCAA tournament. All the guys have been in that tournament structure and know the grind and know the level that they will be facing.”
Spencer said early in the season he felt the team wasn’t performing well collectively. Combine that with some injuries and State suffered some tough losses. A 4-0 win over then No. 23 Florida State on March 12 is one match Spencer can point to and tell his team gained confidence. The next match was a close, 4-3, loss to No. 3 Texas. Even in defeat, Spencer realized his team could compete with the best in the nation.
ACC competition provided another set of challenges, but the team got off to a 5-0 start in league play. On March 31 the Wolfpack beat No. 13 North Carolina on the road, easily the biggest win of the regular season.
Spencer has been around the sport long enough to know when a team is confident. This team is oozing with it.
“I think we have a lot of individuals who are really confident,” Spencer said. “And I think our system, the way we do things, helps to provide…
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