Taking the short trip down I-40 on Friday and Sunday, No. 19 NC State men’s tennis fell to No. 59 Duke before bouncing back with a gutsy win over No. 47 UNC-Chapel Hill.

In Durham, the Pack couldn’t get anything going on the top courts, looking outmatched with straight-set losses on 1, 2 and 4. After losing the doubles point in both duels, it was an uphill battle to climb. But versus the Heels, NC State rallied to win 4-3 with a tremendous comeback after things had swung in the wrong direction.

Duke 4, NC State 0

Dropping doubles matches on Courts 2 and 3, the Pack started out behind the 8 ball. No. 21 pair senior Martin Borisiouk and redshirt sophomore Jules Leroux looked polished on Court 1, winning 6-3. But the struggles continued for Wolfpack pairing redshirt sophomore William Manning and freshman Charlie Camus, who dropped their fourth match in the last six. On Court 3, redshirt freshman Cody Benton and freshman Ainius Sabaliauskas fell in a tie break 7-3 as Duke sealed the opening point.

From there, the Pack continued to slide on the singles courts, as No. 17 Borisiouk, No. 88 Manning, and Sabaliauskas each faced large deficits of three or more games, already a set down. The Pack was surging on the bottom courts and Leroux was holding his own on Court 3, but nobody could manage to flip the script.

In order, Manning fell to No. 56 Cooper Williams 6-4, 6-2, Sabaliauskas fell to Dylan Long 6-2, 6-4, and to clinch the match for Duke, Borisiouk fell to No. 95 Pedro Rodenas 6-4, 6-4. Rodenas was like a brick wall to close the match, and errors were tough for Borisiouk to force. In crunch time, he just could not find the winners he was looking for, and the Pack took its third loss of the season — and its second versus Duke, who beat the Wolfpack 4-2 early in the season at ITA Indoor qualifiers.

NC State 4, UNC-Chapel Hill 3

The Pack has been rock solid in doubles throughout the season winning 15 of 17 coming into the Friday match versus Duke, but for the first time, it dropped the doubles point twice in one weekend.

Borisiouk and Leroux picked up a ranked win over No. 20 Roan Jones and Anthony Wright, but it played out similarly on Courts 2 and 3. Manning and Camus fell 6-1, while Benton and Sabaliauskas fell in a tie-break, this time 7-2.

This time though, NC State battled back with masterful performances on the singles courts.

Freshman Darius Pop got done first, dismantling his Tar Heel opponent Logan Zapp 6-1, 6-2. Leroux moved up to Court 2 and continued his hot play with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over No. 54 Jones. On Court 5, Camus battled back after dropping the first set in a tiebreak, winning 6-3, 6-3 in the final two sets.

But with losses on Court 4 and Court 1 as Sabaliauskas fell 0-6, 3-6 to Constanti Djakouris, and Borisiouk fell on Court 1 to Chris Xu 5-7, 6-4, 1-6, the contest was knotted at three points apiece.

Manning came up clutch on Court 3, clinching the three-set win over Ian Mayew, and delivered an all-time celebration to hype up the away fans.

No. 19 @PackMensTennis clinches the win over No. 47 UNC-Chapel Hill 4-3.

Will Manning comes up clutch. Come for the game-winning point, stay for the celebration. pic.twitter.com/RJDdMjZsqm

— Daniel Susann (@dsus_sus) March 29, 2026

Next up, NC State will head out to the west coast for a pair of matches, beginning with a duel versus No. 55 California at 7 p.m. on Friday.