Head coach Kyle Spencer earned his 100th win as head coach of NC State men’s tennis after the Wolfpack played a perfect day of tennis, not dropping a single set while dismantling Elon and NC Central in a doubleheader.
The Wolfpack (7-3) downed the Elon Phoenix (5-4) 7-0 early on in the day with quick, ruthless wins on each and every court. In the latter leg of the doubleheader, the red-and-white carried over its form from the early match and beat the Eagles (3-6) 4-0.
“Very good performance I think from all of us,” said junior Fons Van Sambeek. “Happy with my own matches. I didn’t get to see many of the other guys, but everyone seems happy, so we’re doing good. And then a day like this is going to be long. You got to keep your focus, and but I think we performed well, so happy with that.”
Spencer, who wasn’t aware of his 100th win until it was announced after the Pack’s victory over NC Central, credited his players for the achievement.
“Obviously all the players are the ones to thank for that,” Spencer said. “Those are the guys that put in hard work and the training and represent us out there — so I didn’t hit any tennis balls, but yeah, it’s cool.”
To players such as Van Sambeek, the Wolfpack’s team captain this season, Spencer has been a key figure in their play on the court and their lives off the courts.
“He means a lot to me,” Van Sambeek said. “He’s way more than just a coach, to me. I see him as an example honestly, he’s helping me on and off the court with a lot of things, and I think he really cares about every single guy on the team, beyond their tennis. So I’m very grateful to have him as a coach.”
Versus Elon, 7-0
NC State started its day off strong, not dropping a single set to the Phoenix in its Sunday afternoon showdown. A quick doubles round was followed by an equally easy singles round where the Pack limited its losses and cruised to a win.
Doubles started with juniors Joseph Wayand and Damien Salvestre beating their Phoenix opponents 6-2 on court two. Junior Braden Shick and Van Sambeek followed that up with a 6-2 win of their own, sending the match into singles play without a second thought.
With a 1-0 lead in hand, No. 124 Wayand started the round out with a 6-2, 6-3 win on court six. His win was emblematic of the rest of his team’s performance — dominant straight-set wins with minimal losses to boot.
Next, senior Luca Staeheli took court four 6-1, 6-4 and Salvestre won 6-4, 6-3 on court five. With the win now clinched at 4-0, the top three courts soon fell in the Wolfpack’s favor.
No. 61 senior Robin Catry won 6-3, 6-3 on court one, Van Sambeek took court three 6-3, 6-1 and No. 109 Shick finished off the sweep with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on court two.
Versus NC Central, 4-0
Just a few hours after dismantling Elon, NC State did the same to NC Central, downing the Eagles 4-0 in a clinch match.
The Wolfpack shut the Eagles down in doubles play — one of its strongest assets as of late and a sign of the team’s progress overall.
“I think the doubles is really strong,” Spencer said. “I feel like the guys are really focused on our training and understanding their identities as tennis players and what they want to do out there. So yeah, I’m just impressed with the group as a whole on how the team is progressing.”
Salvestre and Wayand captured their second doubles win by blanking their opponents 6-0 while Shick and Van Sambeek did the same, winning 6-2 on court three to earn yet another 1-0 lead heading into singles.
From there, the Pack won three-straight singles to clinch the match at 4-0. Sophomore Martin Borisiouk perfected his opponent 6-0, 6-0 to start the round off strong. Van Sambeek won next by a score of 6-1, 6-2 to put NC State in clinch position.
To finish the win off, Staeheli blanked his opponent in his second set in an overall 6-4, 6-0 win to send the Eagles away scoreless and finalize Spencer’s 100th win.
After the doubleheader and a sweep against Campbell earlier in the week, NC State is preparing to begin conference play. With three outdoor matches and two weeks of training under its belt, the red-and-white is ready for its ACC opener against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
“The biggest change is going from indoor to outdoor so the tennis is different, and we always need some time to adapt to that, and I think that we had a couple extra weeks to do that,” Van Sambeek said. “I think [that’s] helped us, and especially matches like this will prepare us for the ACC for sure. So we trained very hard. It was heavy, but it was good.”
First serve against the Hokies is set for Friday, March 1 at 2:30 p.m.
