RALEIGH The NC State men’s tennis team wrapped up their 2022-23 home schedule, knocking off ACC rival Wake Forest, 4-2.
The win snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Demon Deacons, a team head coach Kyle Spencer called “one of the beasts of our league.”
With the win, NC State improves to 14-8 overall and 8-3 in the ACC.
The match came down to court No. 4 where Braden Shick took on Jurabek Karimov. Shick, the sophomore from Greensboro, won in straight sets, but needed a rally in the second set to clinch the Wolfpack win.
“Braden struggled the last couple of matches, so for him to close it out, it was amazing,” Spencer said.
Wake Forest took the first win in the doubles, but the Pack recovered to earn the point and came out swinging in the singles.
“We were able to fight back,” Spencer said. “I think this is just a really special group. Happy for them, happy for our program to get a big win at the right time of the season for sure.”
Doubles
(NC State 1, Wake Forest 0)
The Demon Deacons won the first match in the No. 3 doubles when Melios Efstathiou and Juan Lopez de Azcona defeated Shick and Fons Van Sambeek.
No. 18 Robin Catry and Luca Staeheli continued to roll, knocking off No. 73 Jurabek Karimov and Luciano Tacchi, 6-3. That set up a must win on court one. No. Rafa Izquierdo Luque and Joe Wayand secured the point, edging Matthew Thomson and Filippo Moroni, 7-5.
Singles
(NC State 3, Wake Forest 2)
Catry got the Pack off to a good start in singles action, defeating Matthew Thomson in straight sets (6-0, 6-4).
“Robin Catry, wow,” Spencer said. “He’s really hitting a good stride and really played a professional match out there.”
Wake Forest, though, did tie the match at two thanks to a pair of singles wins on courts 1 and 5. NC State needed an edge and got it from Joe Wayand. In his second straight game back to the singles lineup, Wayand defeated Juan Lopez de Azcona 7-5, 6-3.
The Pack needed one of the final two matches to pull off the victory. Staeheli, playing in the No. 2 singles spot, dropped his first set, but won the second to force a third. Shick won his first set, 7-6, but found himself down 3-0 early in the second. With all eyes on side-by-side courts, Shick found his groove.
“It came down to me and Luca at that point,” Shick said. “The attention came on…
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