NC State men’s tennis crushes No. 23 Florida State in 4-0 upset

NC State men’s tennis secured its sixth-straight win with perhaps its most impressive victory of the 2023 season, upsetting No. 23 Florida State 4-0 in a dominant sweep.

Just days after its third ACC win of the season, NC State clearly wasn’t satisfied, topping Friday’s feat with not only a win over a ranked conference foe, but a sweep over the Seminoles (9-5, 3-1 ACC). The Wolfpack (10-4, 4-0 ACC) took care of business from beginning to end, setting the tone for the match with a ruthless doubles round and finishing the day with three strong singles wins.

It didn’t take long for the Pack to land the first punch — the doubles round saw NC State win two out of the three matches to take the early point. Even though the Seminoles took the first match 6-2, that was the highlight of their day. Shortly after, the No. 29 pair of fifth-year senior Rafa Izquierdo Luque and sophomore Joseph Wayand beat their opponents 6-3 on court two, and the No. 55 pair of senior Robin Catry and junior Luca Staeheli won 6-2 to win the round.

Up 1-0, NC State kept it going in the subsequent singles round, taking the first three matches to pull off the sweep. After Catry’s doubles win, the senior turned up the heat even more in singles, dismantling his Seminole opponent 6-0, 6-1 to earn his team a 2-0 lead.

Next, redshirt sophomore Braden Shick downed his ranked opponent on court three 6-2, 6-4, putting the Pack in clinch position. With Florida State in dire straits, Staeheli landed the death blow on court two. After losing his first set 6-4, the junior stormed back, winning his next two sets by a combined score of 12-3 to earn a final decision of 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, sending the Seminoles home.

With Staeheli’s win, matches on courts one, five and six were stopped due to the clinch. Sophomore Damien Salvestre split his first two sets against his top-five opponent on court one, while sophomore Fons Van Sambeek had just begun his second set on court five. Finally, Wayand was stopped just after his first set on court six.

With the win over Florida State, NC State expands upon its best start to ACC play under head coach Kyle Spencer. The Wolfpack is now undefeated in the conference, and after adding what could be its most impressive win of the season thus far, it looks like there is no slowing down the red-and-white right now — in the ACC, that is.

The Wolfpack is set to play its toughest opponent yet this season in the No. 2 Texas Longhorns in its next match as the final part of its daunting nonconference schedule. It’s a challenge to say the least, but with the red-and-white rolling like it is right now, who’s to say NC State won’t give Texas a run for its money in Austin, Texas.

The road match down south against the No. 2 Longhorns is set for Tuesday, March 14 at 6 p.m. Central Time.