Wolfpack Grinds Out Thrilling 4-3 Victory At Minnesota

Saturday, January 20

Minneapolis, MN

1 PM

NC State

University of Minnesota

Wolfpack Grinds Out Thrilling 4-3 Victory At Minnesota

1/20/2018 5:12:00 PM | Men's Tennis

@PackMensTennis

January 20, 2018

MINNEAPOLIS – Fueled by four singles victories, the NC State men's tennis team earned a 4-3 comeback win over Minnesota Saturday afternoon. With its second-straight early-season victory over a Power Five program, NC State is off to a 4-0 start under head coach Kyle Spencer, the program's best start to a season since 2012.

"It was a tough one," said Spencer. "The guys really grinded one out there. Ivan (Saveljic) and Alexis (Galarneau) had a great fight, and the bottom half of the lineup carried the day today. I'm really pleased with the effort. It's not easy to go on the road. We have so much respect for Minnesota and this program. They're going to be a great team this year. It's not easy to lose the doubles point and then come back like that, so I'm really proud of the guys for their play today and proud of a great weekend."

Minnesota claimed the doubles point and an early lead with wins on courts one and three. The 26th-ranked Minnesota duo of Martin Spec and Felix Corwin defeated Igor Saveljic and Ivan Saveljic 6-2, and Stefan Milicevic and Marino Alpeza edged Tadas Babelis and Georgiy Malyshev 6-3. Alexis Galarneau and Michael Ogden, ranked No. 32, were winning 5-4 against Minnesota's Justyn Levin and Josip Kostanovic when doubles play was halted.

Singles started with a couple of straight-set wins for each team. Robert Turzak gave the Wolfpack its first match of the day, beating Eli Ogilvy 6-2, 6-3 on court six.

Minnesota's Corwin picked up a singles win for the Gophers, defeating Igor 6-4, 6-4 on court two, but Malyshev earned a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Alpeza minutes later on court five to once again tie the match score.

Babelis put up another tremendous effort in singles, this time matching up against a ranked opponent in Minnesota's No. 73 Spec on court three. Babelis forced a tiebreaker for the second set, but Spec held on to take the 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory.

With no room for error, Ivan kept NC State alive with a come-from-behind victory against Minnesota's Krstanovic on court four. The Wolfpack junior bounced back from losing the first set 6-4 to win the second set 6-3. The final frame went into a tiebreaker, which Ivan won handily 7-3.

The match came down to a top-40 matchup on court one between No. 16 Galarneau and No. 35 Milicevic. Galarneau grabbed an early advantage, winning the first set 6-4, but Milicevic took the second set by the same score to force a third frame.

Milicevic jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Galarneau fought back to tie things up. The Wolfpack sophomore got broken to go down 5-4 late in the third set, but he rallied and turned around to break Milicevic right back to stay in the match. Galarneau held serve to go up 6-5. It came down to a deciding point on Milicevic's serve, which Galarneau powered through to win and clinch NC State's fourth victory of the season.

UP NEXT
The Wolfpack takes a break from action before returning to the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center to host Elon on Friday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m.

RESULTS
NC State 4, Minnesota 3
Doubles Results
Order of finish: (1, 3)
1. #26 Martin Spec/Felix Corwin (Minnesota) def. Igor Saveljic/Ivan Saveljic (NC State) 6-2
2. #32 Alexis Galarneau/Michael Ogden (NC State) vs. Justyn Levin/Josip Kostanovic (Minnesota) 5-4, unfinished
3. Stefan Milicevic/Marino Alpeza (Minnesota) def. Tadas Babelis/Georgiy Malyshev (NC State) 6-3

Singles Results
Order of finish: (6, 2, 5, 3, 4, 1)
1. #16 Alexis Galarneau (NC State) def. #35 Stefan Milicevic (Minnesota) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
2. Felix Corwin (Minnesota) def. Igor Saveljic (NC State) 6-4, 6-4
3. #73 Matic Spec (Minnesota) def. Tadas Babelis (NC State) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
4. Ivan Saveljic (NC State) def. Josip Krstanovic (Minnesota) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3)
5. Georgiy Malyshev (NC State) def. Marino Alpeza (Minnesota) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
6. Robert Turzak (NC State) def. Eli Ogilvy (Minnesota) 6-2, 6-3

#GoPack | @PackMensTennis