© 2012 NCSU Student Media
Reaching to hit the ball, senior Jaime Pulgar smacks the ball up in the air and across the net to his opponents from Duke at the ACC Championship quarterfinals. The Wolfpack fell 4-0 to the Blue Devils at the Cary Tennis Park Friday, April 20. Photo by Ryan Parry.
After each team defeated Boston College in the first round of the ACC Tennis Championships on Thursday, the N.C. State men’s and women’s tennis teams suffered losses at the hands of the Duke Blue Devils Friday.
In the morning, the women had a less than impressive performance against the Blue Devils, as they were quickly swept.
Duke jumped out to an early lead, winning the doubles point with little competition. The No. 27 ranked duo of Duke’s Beatrice Capra and Rachel Kahan took the first match 8-1 over State junior Tatiana Illova and freshman Nicole Martinez.
Shortly after, junior Chloe Smith and freshman Elisha Hande dropped the second match, 8-2, clinching the doubles point for Duke.
The Blue Devils didn’t back down in singles, as the Pack’s situation went from bad to worse.
Smith showed little opposition to No. 49 Hanna Mar when she lost 6-1, 6-1 to give the Devils a 2-0 lead. Duke’s No. 74 Mary Clayton followed behind her teammate, defeating sophomore Christy Sipes 7-5, 6-0.
No. 31 Joelle Kissell , who was named to the All-ACC Women’s Tennis Team yesterday, dropped the game-deciding match 6-0, 6-2 to ACC Freshman of the Year and ACC Player of the Year No. 2 Beatrice Capra .
Duke would go on to defeat UNC 4-2 in the championship match.
Scores can be deceptive in tennis, and Illova assures that the Devils still had to work for the win.
“Everybody played great against Duke,” Illova said. “Just because we lost 4-0 doesn’t mean it was easy for Duke. Everybody was playing really hard and Duke’s just a really good team.”
Despite a disappointing turnout on Friday, Kissell is looking forward to the future of Wolfpack tennis.
“We have a very young team this year and we’re getting so much experience throughout the season,” Kissell said. “I’m excited for the next year to see how far we can go.”
No. 38 Wolfpack men’s tennis put up more of a fight against the No. 5 Blue Devils, but still managed to come up short of the win.
In doubles, all three matches were highly competitive. Seniors Julian Sullivan and Dominic Hodgson dropped the first match 8-6 to give Duke the edge early on. After taking a 6-4 lead, junior Dave Thomson and sophomore Sean Weber dropped the second match 9-7 as the Devils took an early 1-0 match advantage.
Freshman Robbie Mudge and senior Jaime Pulgar held an 8-7 lead when the doubles point was decided, but their match resulted in a DNF .
Mudge had a stellar showing against the Blue Devils in the Pack’s ACC home opener, but it was a different story Friday as he dropped the first singles match 6-1, 6-1. Almost immediately following Mudge’s finish, sophomore Ivan Sanchez Gomez lost 6-1, 6-0 to make it a 3-0 lead for Duke.
No. 35 Pulgar lost 6-2, 6-2 to No. 4 Henrique Cunha , sealing the match for Duke 4-0. The match was the first time the Wolfpack has been swept this season.
Duke was the eventual tournament runner-up, losing to Virginia 4-1.
“Those guys came out swinging,” Sullivan said. “It shocked me.”
State is 19-0 when the team wins the doubles point and 1-9 when it has lost. Pulgar acknowledged the importance of winning the opening point.
“The doubles point is key,” Pulgar said. “At this level, winning four out of six singles matches is very difficult.”
Selections for the NCAA Tournament will be held on May 1. Coach Jon Choboy is confident that his team will be prepared for the big stage.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Choboy said. “This isn’t the end.”