The No. 25 NC State men’s tennis team defeated Georgia Tech 5-2 on the back of the junior Saveljic Brothers, Ivan and Igor, who combined for three of NC State’s five points at J.W Isenhour Tennis Center on Friday.
The Wolfpack (14-5, 4-4 ACC) won its third straight match at home, this time against the Yellow Jackets (5-12, 1-6 ACC). Three matches went to a third set, with NC State finishing 2-1, its only loss coming on a retirement.
“What a battle,” head coach Kyle Spencer said. “Georgia Tech did a really good job of making us fight after we played a really good doubles point, but credit to our guys. Ivan for a fantastic third set, happy for Igor to finish that match. [Junior Georgiy Malyshev] was fantastic today. We had a lot of guys [Sophomore Alexis Galarneau], it was great to get him back in the lineup. Just really proud of the effort of the guys.”
The Saveljic brothers won their doubles match 6-1. The team of Malyshev and freshman Tadas Babelis won six games to two in doubles. Redshirt junior Michael Ogden and Galarneau faced off against 14th-ranked pair in the country, but were stopped due to the end of the other two games both going NC State’s way. NC State was ahead 1-0 after the doubles action.
“The doubles point is very important,” Igor Saveljic said. “I think we got a really good start. All of the guys brought a lot of energy. Ivan and I finished first and I think that gave us an advantage.”
In singles action, Galarneau went back and forth with Carlos Divar going down 3-2 early, but then Galarneau would go on to win four straight games to win the first set 6-3. Galarneau started off the second set just as hot, winning the first five games before surrendering the only game of the second set before closing it out 6-1 for the Pack’s first match win in singles.
Freshman Robert Turzak climbed to a 3-0 lead, but lost seven of the next nine games to fall 7-5 to Georgia Tech’s Chris Yun. Turzak could not get out of his cold streak losing all six games in the second set to give Georgia Tech its first match point of the day.
Malyshev and Elijah Melendez had a back-and-forth match as well. Malyshev would take each of the first two sets 6-3 and then 7-5 respectively to earn the Wolfpack its third match point of the game.
Babelis and Phillip Gresk went to a decisive thirteenth game tied at 6 wins a piece. Babelis won the extra game 7-6 finishing it off with winning five straight points. Gresk came back and won the second set 7-5. Gresk pulled ahead in the third set 3-0, and Babelis retired the match giving Gresk the win and the second Georgia Tech match point.
Ivan Saveljic won the first set of his match six games to one. Ivan Saveljic would struggle in his second set in a matchup that saw him down six games to five. He would lose the last game and fall 7-5 in the second set, but go on to dominate the third set with a 6-0 sweep clinching the victory for the Wolfpack.
“It’s not a lot different than winning in straight sets,” Ivan Saveljic said. “It’s just staying mentally engaged, out-competing the opponent in physical ways and we both did a great job today.”
Igor Saveljic was down 5-1 in the first set, before coming back to make it 5-4. He dropped the first set 6-4, but came back to win the match. Igor Saveljic took the second set 6-4, before winning in a tiebreak.
The Wolfpack will be back in action on Sunday, April 8 at home against Clemson.
