North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
#49 University of Virginia
No. 23 Wolfpack Visits No. 49 Virginia, No. 39 Louisville
4/12/2018 11:19:00 AM | Men's Tennis
NC State to close out the regular season with three consecutive road matches
April 12, 2018
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RALEIGH, N.C. - The No. 23 NC State men's tennis team (15-5, 5-4 ACC) will face off against two ranked ACC opponents this weekend as it hits the road to take on No. 49 Virginia and No. 39 Louisville. The Wolfpack travels to Charlottesville, Va. Friday for a 3 p.m. matchup against the Cavaliers and then heads to Louisville, Ky. on Sunday for a 12 p.m. meeting with the Cardinals.
LAST TIME OUT:
NC State went unbeaten during its last home weekend of the regular season, defeating Georgia Tech 5-2 and downing Clemson 4-1. The wins put the Wolfpack's final regular season home record at 9-3, the team's best mark since it went 11-3 at home during the 2013-14 season.
WOLFPACK IN THE RANKINGS:
NC State checks in at No. 23 in the nation as of the April 10 release of the Oracle/ITA Team Rankings. The Wolfpack has yet to fall out of the top 30 of the rankings since earning its first team ranking of the season on Feb. 20.
Individual rankings this week are as follows:
- Alexis Galarneau - No. 37 in singles
- Igor Saveljic - No. 121 for the first singles ranking of his Wolfpack career
- Alexis Galarneau/Michael Ogden - No. 69 in doubles
PACK TRACKS:
NC State has won its last four matches, which ties Virginia Tech for the conference's longest active winning streak. It is the first time since the 2008 season that the Wolfpack has won four ACC matches in a row.
Galarneau enters this weekend's matchups coming off of back-to-back singles victories against ranked opponents. He did not drop a set on the way to cruising past Georgia Tech's No. 64 Carlos Divar 6-3, 6-1, and he took down 59th-ranked Alex Favrot of Clemson by a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 score.
Ivan Saveljic has remained consistent for the Pack and is currently riding a six-match winning streak dating back to the March 18 match at Virginia Tech. The Wolfpack junior provided the clinching point for three matches in a row against No. 25 Notre Dame, Boston College, and Georgia Tech.
SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS:
Virginia reentered the top 50 on March 29 and currently stands at No. 49. The defending national team champion, Virginia brings an 11-9 record into Friday's matchup. After starting conference play with a 4-1 mark, the Cavaliers have lost their last four matches, all to ranked opponents, to drop to 4-5 in the ACC.
There are two Cavaliers who hold singles rankings, with Aswin Lizen standing at No. 28 and Carl Soderlund standing at No. 31.
Lizen boasts a 17-2 singles clip in dual match play, playing mostly on courts two and three. The Virginia junior has taken down two ranked opponents this season.
Soderlund is 9-3 during the spring season, having played all 12 of his matches at the No. 1 singles spot. He is an impressive 5-2 against nationally-ranked foes, having defeated No. 33 Alex Lebedev (Notre Dame), No. 47 Alex Favrot (Clemson), and No. 51 Aziz Dougaz (Florida State) among others.
Lizen pairs up with Gianni Ross to make up the nation's No. 27 doubles pair.
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS:
Louisville currently holds a 15-7 overall record and will face No. 1 Wake Forest Friday before it hosts the Wolfpack. The Cardinals are coming off of a challenging road stretch during which the squad faced four ranked teams in two weeks. After losing three-straight matches, Louisville's most recent win came Sunday with a 5-2 victory at No. 18 Duke.
The Cardinals and the Wolfpack both bring 5-4 ACC marks into the weekend. Each of the teams will play ranked ACC foes Friday afternoon before facing one another on Sunday in just the ninth meeting between the programs.
In the national rankings, Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff and Parker Wynn hold down spots in both singles and doubles.
Morin-Kougoucheff, who plays primarily at the top singles court, ranks No. 63 with an 11-2 mark in dual match play and an unblemished 5-0 record against ranked opponents in 2017-18. Wynn joins him in the singles rankings at No. 106.
The pair is ranked 14th in the nation in doubles. They enter the match 26-9 on the season and have only lost once in ACC competition.
#GoPack | @PackMensTennis
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