N.C. State Thwarts Northwestern, 7-0

2/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Feb. 25, 2012

Complete Results

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Combe Tennis Center)
Score: NC State 7, Northwestern 0
Records: NCST (11-1, 0-0 ACC), NU (7-3, 0-0Gig Ten)
Next NU Event: Wednesday, February 29 -- at Louisville (Louisville, Ky.), 4 p.m.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern hoped to carry momentum of recent victories into its match with No. 48 North Carolina State, but though the score hardly represented the intensity of the match, the Wolfpack were too much for the Wildcats to overcome in a 7-0 win Saturday afternoon.

"This was a tough one," head coach Arivd Swan said. "North Carolina State brought a whole lot of energy. They're a good ACC team and we didn't play up to our standards today."

At No. 2, Sidarth Balaji (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) and Tobias Reitz (Reinbeck, Germany/Sachsenwaldschule Reinbeck) were unable to make a comeback after beginning their match in a 6-0 hole to NC State's Dominic Hodgson and Matt Thompson. The Wildcat duo strung together three straight wins, and four wins in five games, but the Pack eventually regained their footing, taking the set, 8-4.

Playing together on the No. 1 line for a second match in a row, sophomore Raleigh Smith (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and freshman Alex Pasareanu (Bluffton, S.C./Heritage Academy) pounced out of the gates early, going up 3-1. But a quick 6-1 run by Sean Webber and Julian Sullivan doomed the two 'Cats, who eventually fell, 8-5, clinching the doubles point for the Wolfpack.

Spencer Wolf (Coral Springs, Fla./Laurel Springs) and Eric Spector (Northbrook, IL/Glenbrook North) earned their second win of the season after a gritty battle with Jaime Pulgar and Robbie Mudge. The teams kept things close for every service, but two break points allowed Wolf and Spector to escape with a solid 8-6 win.

NC State was quick to earn its second point when, for only the second time this season, Smith fell in singles play. The sophomore Wildcat took Mudge to 6-5 in the first set, but after Mudge claimed the set, Smith was never able to make ground, ultimately losing the match, 7-5, 6-2.

Following behind, Spector, who was a last-minute addition to the lineup, fell in two sets despite a tremendous effort in both. Spector found himself in 4-1 holes in both sets, and even brought the second to a tiebreaker, but NC State's Beck Bond overcame that to win, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). Shortly after, freshman Nikhil Jayashankar (Saratoga, Calif./Saratoga) suffered only his third loss of the season, succumbing to Julian Sullivan, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

With the match in hand, the Wolfpack continued on with a win at No. 4. NU's Chris Jackman (Key Biscayne, Fla./Gulliver Prep) claimed the first set in a hard-fought tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-2), but Austin Powell took things over from there, only yielding one game in the next two sets to win, 6-1, 6-0.

Spencer Wolf won his first grueling set with a 7-5 victory, but Jaime Pulgar came out victorious in a long-winded three-set battle, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. To close out the match, a terrific bout at No. 2 ultimately saw Dominic Hodgson defeat NU's Balaji, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 6-3. Balaji went toe-to-toe with Hodgson, but the senior from NC State pulled out the Wolfpack's seventh win of the day.

Next up, the Wildcats head to Louisville, Ky., to take on the Cardinals at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Singles (Order of Finish: 3, 6, 5, 3*, 4, 1, 2):
1: Jaime Pulgar (NCST) def. Spencer Wolf (NU) - 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
2: Dominic Hodgson (NCST) def. Sidarth Balaji (NU) - 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 6-3
3: Robbie Mudge (NCST) def. Raleigh Smith (NU) - 7-5, 6-2
4: Austin Powell (NCST) def. Chris Jackman (NU) - 6-7 (7-2), 6-1, 6-0
5: Julian Sullivan (NCST) def. Nikhil Jayashankar (NU) - 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
6: Beck Bond (NCST) def. Eric Spector (NU) - 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)

Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 1*, 3):
1: Sean Weber/Julian Sullivan (NCST) def. Raleigh Smith/Alex Pasareanu (NU) - 8-5
2: Dominic Hodgson/Matt Thomson (NCST) def. Tobias Reitz/Sidarth Balaji (NU) - 8-4
3: Spencer Wolf/Eric Spector (NU) def. Jaime Pulgar/Robbie Mudge (NCST) - 8-6

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