Coming off wins over Gardner-Webb and Winthrop to open its spring season Saturday, the NC State men’s tennis team will travel to Northwestern and Minnesota for its first road challenge of 2018.
The Wolfpack (2-0) will take on the Northwestern Wildcats (0-0) in Evanston, Illinois, Thursday before heading to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to take on the Golden Gophers (0-0) Saturday. The Pack beat Gardner-Webb 5-2 on Jan. 16 and Winthrop 7-0 later that afternoon for the first two wins of new head coach Kyle Spencer’s career at NC State.
Junior Igor Saveljic played the top court for the Wolfpack in both matches Saturday, defeating Diego Quiroz of Winthrop 6-3, 6-2, and falling to Maximilian Scholl of Gardner-Webb, ranked 105th nationally, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-3. Behind Saveljic in both duals was freshman Tadas Babelis, who won both of his matches in three sets.
Juniors Georgiy Malyshev and Ivan Saveljic, redshirt junior Michael Ogden and freshman Robert Turzak played the other four courts in the opening weekend, all going 2-0 with Malyshev and Ivan Saveljic winning both in straight sets.
In doubles, the Saveljic twins played the top court for NC State, beating Paul Hogan and Johan Fors of Gardner-Webb 6-2, and ending tied 4-4 against the 42nd-ranked duo of Quiroz and Ruy Teixeira of Winthrop.
Babelis and Malyshev teamed up for a 6-1 win against Winthrop, while Ogden and freshman Collin Shick won 6-4. Against Gardner-Webb, Malyshev and Ogden paired up while Turzak and Babelis played together. However, both pairs lost their matches against the Bulldogs.
Heading north to start up its road slate in 2018, the Pack will face its toughest test yet. Northwestern finished last season 22-11, making it to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Championships and finishing the year ranked 22nd.
The Wildcats lost a number of starters from last year’s squad, which beat the Pack 6-1 in Raleigh last February, but is still a formidable opponent. Northwestern won all three doubles matches and all but one singles bout against the Wolfpack in that dual, with Pack sophomore Alexis Galarneau being the only winner for NC State. Galarneau did not play last week and it is unknown whether he will be available against the Wildcats and Golden Gophers.
The Wolfpack beat Minnesota 5-2 at home last year, with both teams returning most of their talent. Igor Saveljic, Ogden, Galarneau and Malyshev all won individual matches against the Golden Gophers last season. However, Minnesota is a strong team this year. Stefan Milicevic is ranked 35th in the country, while Matic Spec is 73rd. In addition to the two strong singles competitors, Minnesota’s top doubles team of Spec and Felix Corwin is ranked 26th nationally.
The two upcoming matches for the Wolfpack should provide a good test for an unproven NC State team, and give a good measure to what the Pack is capable of. Both Northwestern and Minnesota are formidable foes, but competition NC State can match up against.
