No. 26 NC State men’s tennis seems to have more questions than answers right now as the regular season comes to a close.
Taking a trip to the western reaches of the piedmont for its final match of the regular season, the Wolfpack (16-6,8-5 ACC) fell 4-0 to No. 7 Wake Forest (27-3, 12-1 ACC). With multiple lineup changes in big matches to end the season, head coach Kyle Spencer has explored new avenues, trying to find the path to success. The formula that brought his squad 10-straight wins, including six against top-75 opponents, is no longer viable. The Pack has lost four of its last five matches, including this one in Winston Salem.
The first big change was on doubles Court 1, as No. 20 senior Martin Borisiouk and redshirt sophomore Jules Leroux have been split up.
That pairing, which had a record of 11-2 and climbed the national leaderboard, played separately for the first time since January in the penultimate match versus No. 25 Stanford. Borisiouk did not play doubles versus Stanford, while Leroux was paired with fellow redshirt sophomore William Manning. That pairing ran it back on Court 2 Saturday, as they fell 6-7(4) to No. 88 Mees Rottgering and Kacper Szymkowiak.
Versus Wake, Borisiouk did get into doubles play, paired with freshman Charlie Camus on Court 3. They actually fared well, securing the only doubles win for NC State, 6-3.
Just like against Stanford, redshirt freshman Cody Benton and freshman Ainius Sabaliauskas were slid up to Court 1. Previously, they had looked decent on the top court, losing 5-7 against a very solid Stanford pairing. Versus the No. 2 doubles team in the country in DK Suresh Ekambaram and Andrew Delgado, Benton and Sabaliauskas were outmatched, falling 2-6.
More lineup changes came in the singles, as Benton was once again placed on Court 6, playing his third singles match of the season. After his big win versus former five-star Mark Krupkin where he played instead of his doubles partner, Sabaliauskas, he seemed to be trending in the right direction. But versus Wake, he fell 3-6, 2-6 to No. 110 Aryan Shah.
Sabaliauskas was back in the lineup, replacing freshman Darius Pop, and he lost 6-7(4), 3-6 on Court 4. His record now moves to 6-13 in singles matches this season.
If there is any brightside to the final match of the regular season, it was No. 30 Borisiouk’s performance on Court 1. The Belarus native has been riding a six-match losing streak, apart from one unfinished result versus Virginia Tech. Versus the rock-solid No. 25 Suresh Ekambaram, Borisiouk won the first set 6-4, and looked competitive. He lost the second set, and his match went unfinished.
Otherwise, no other NC State player won their first set — not a good sign with the ACC Championship this week.
ACC Championship matches will take place April 15-19 at Cary Tennis Park, with the early window at 10 a.m. and the afternoon window at 12:30 p.m. There is still one match to play between Stanford and Cal, so seeding has not yet been determined.
