No. No. 22 NC State men's tennis began its 2025 season with a doubleheader against Campbell and NC Central, defeating both intrastate squads 7-0 at the JW Isenhour Tennis Center.
The Wolfpack (2-0), who didn't drop a set that day, debuted three new freshmen at the bottom of the lineup in the season-opening games against the Camels (0-1) and Eagles (0-1).
“I'm super happy with the boys,” said head coach Kyle Spencer. It is of course a long day if we play indoors with two games. But I'm really glad that everyone who needed to get in participated. Some freshmen got three, four games, which is great. They really needed that to experience what it feels like to play a tennis match in college.
vs. Campbell, 7-0
NC State started the season with a pair of 6-1 doubles wins against Campbell, the first of which came from the pair of No. 102 seniors Braden Shick and Fons Van Sambeek on Court 1. Junior Martin Borisiouk and redshirt freshman Jules Leroux switched their Camel opponents out on Court 2 to quickly move the match to singles, while freshman Noah Gabriel and redshirt freshman William Manning's match remained unfinished at 5-2 on the track. 3.
The first to strike in singles was No. 17 Shick, who downed his opponent in a 6-1, 6-0 loss on Court 1. Leroux followed Shick with a 6-1, 6-3 win on Court 4 for his first victory. in red and white.
No. 26 Borisiouk took to court 2 in a routine 6-1, 6-2 win, recording the first victory just after Leroux had won his debut match. Borisiouk, who hails from Minsk, Belarus, reflected on his time as a freshman, which seemed like just yesterday to the now junior.
I am very happy for the freshmen, for their matches, Borisiouk said. I know I was in their shoes two seasons ago, and it's hard to play your first game. I'm very happy for them.
Despite needing a tiebreak victory for his first set, Van Sambeek NC State earned the next point in a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 victory. To close out the first match of the day, the Pack's other two freshmen, Manning and Gabriel, posted 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) and 6-4, 6-4 wins, respectively, on courts 5 and 6.
Borisiouk said his growth as a tennis player has come quickly in his few years with the team, something he hasn't necessarily noticed on a day-to-day basis.
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To be honest, you don't feel it, Borisiouk said. You just come to this court every day, practice and you get a little better. One shot better today, one shot better tomorrow. So you just grow and don't realize that you beat a better player today than you did a year ago.
vs. NC Central, 7-0
After the Packs defeated the Camels 7-0, the red and white did the same against NC Central in their afternoon game with the Eagles.
Gabriel and Van Sambeek earned the first doubles victory of the match in a 6-2 win on court 3, while the young duo of Leroux and Manning won 6-3 on court 2 to take another 1-0 lead heading into the singles game.
Borisiouk defeated his Eagle opponent 6-3, 6-1 to set up the singles match and was followed by Manning's 6-1, 6-3 win on court 4 as the freshman earned his second singles victory of the day . Later in the match, Leroux and Gabriel followed with their respective second victories of the day.
Spencer was pleased with the great amount of action his freshmen saw that day, speaking about the character of his young players and the leadership of his older players.
“I think we're really integrated,” Spencer said. We recruit based on people's character, and these guys have really bought into the team. And then the seniors and [Borisiouk] As a junior I really did a great job showing those guys what the level should be on a daily basis. And they get along great. The team is quite synergistic at the moment.
A veteran of the team, No. 97 senior Luca Staeheli, got his first action of the new season in a 6-2, 6-3 victory on Court 3, giving the Packs second victory of the year. From there, Van Sambeek achieved his second victory of the day, while Leroux and Gabriel won in straight sets on courts 5 and 6.
NC State will take a month-long road trip during which the team will participate in the annual ITA Indoor Kickoff event. However, the Pack is poised for a showdown with No. 21 Harvard in Raleigh before it hurts on the road. NC State lost to the Crimson in Cambridge, Massachusetts last season and is looking for revenge in 2025.
We'll have an excited group to go to and avenge a loss we suffered there last year, Spencer said. And we want to play high-level tennis at kick-off.
First serve against the Ivy League titan is Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the JW Isenhour Tennis Center.
