No. 22 NC State men’s tennis downs LSU in ITA Kickoff Weekend

Ethan Bakogiannis, Managing Editor • January 26, 2025

Senior Fons Van Sambeek yells after scoring in his singles game against NC Central at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. Van Sambeek won his singles match 2-0, with scores of 6-2 and 6-4 for the individual sets. NC State won the match 7-0.

While NC State men’s tennis found little success in last season’s ITA Kickoff Weekend, the No. 22 Wolfpack defeated LSU in the first round this time around.

Competing in Starkville, Mississippi at the hosting Bulldogs’ courts, the Pack faced off against the Tigers in the first-ever match between the two programs. NC State (3-1) got the better of LSU (2-1) in the ACC-SEC clash via a 4-1 decision after giving up just one point to the Tigers.

Coming off a ranked loss against the then-No. 21 Harvard Crimson at home, NC State reversed its doubles’ fortunes from its previous match and swiftly beat LSU in the early round to gain a 1-0 lead.

The Pack’s first doubles victory came on court one, where a ranked doubles duel was taking place between NC State’s pair of seniors, No. 102 Braden Shick and Fons Van Sambeek and LSU’s No. 28 Julien Penzlin and Aleksi Lofman. Ultimately, Shick and Van Sambeek pulled off a critical and impressive upset on court one to snatch the match’s momentum with a 6-3 win.

NC State’s redshirt freshman Jules Leroux and senior Luca Staeheli teamed up for a 6-3 win over their Tiger opponents on court two to clinch the doubles point for the Wolfpack.

Once in singles, LSU struck back with a two-set victory over redshirt freshman William Manning on court five. LSU’s No. 99 Penzlin got revenge for his doubles loss with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Manning.

However, NC State responded by rattling off three straight singles victories to win the match, starting with No. 97 Staeheli’s routine 6-3, 6-3 victory on court three over LSU’s Calin Stirbu.

Up 2-1, Leroux earned his second win of the day in a 6-3, 7-5 win on court six. The redshirt freshman put his team in position to clinch the match with his win.

NC State put the contest away with a victory from No. 26 junior Martin Borisiouk over Sasa Markovic on court two. Borisiouk easily won the first set 6-1 but had to gut out a 7-6 (7-5) second-set win to finally defeat the Tigers.

After clinching the match at 4-1, both Shick and Van Sambeek’s singles matches — both in their third sets — were left unfinished.

Defeating the Tigers, NC State advances to the regional championship match where the Pack will face the hosting Bulldogs on Sunday.

First serve against Mississippi State is set for 1 p.m. in Starkville.