Men's Tennis Begins ACC Championship Play Thursday
CARY, N.C. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team will seek its second postseason win in as many years Thursday evening, facing No. 22 NC State in the second round of the 2018 ACC Championship. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, N.C. The tournament runs April 25-29.
LIVE STATS
Live stats for each match of the five-day championship will be available HERE. ACC Network Extra has the broadcast for the semifinals and final of the tournament starting Saturday.
THE SERIES
The Hurricanes (14-11, 4-8 ACC) will have a chance to record a second straight win against the Wolfpack (16-7, 6-6 ACC) after taking the regular-season clash in a 4-3 thriller in Coral Gables on March 25. Back then, freshman Bojan Jankulovski earned the match-clinching victory in a third-set tiebreaker against Georgiy Malyshev to improve Miami’s all-time record against NC State to 15-6.
HIGHLIGHTING MIAMI’S 2018 SEASON
-Miami’s 14 regular-season victories tied the program’s most since the 2014 season, when the Hurricanes finished 14-11 overall.
-Following a sweep over Dayton Sunday, the Hurricanes completed the home portion of their second with a 12-2 record, the highest winning percentage in Coral Gables since 2006, during which Miami went on to reach the NCAA Championship round of 16.
-This season, the team posted a seven-match win streak at home – first since 2014 – between Feb. 22 and March 25.
-Miami’s 6-2 start to the season was the Hurricanes’ best start since 2013.
-Last Friday, the Canes earned their second top-25 win of the season, defeating then-No. 22 Duke, 4-3, at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. The triumph was the first against a top-22 team since March 21, 2014, when Miami edged then-No. 18 Wake Forest.
-On April 6, Miami edged three-time defending national champion Virginia, 4-3, to hand the Cavaliers their first ACC defeat in Charlottesville since April 7, 2006, when Miami earned a 4-3 victory at the Snyder Tennis Center.
-This week, the Canes check in at No. 39 in the Oracle/ITA rankings, breaking into the top 40 for the first time since March 25, 2014. Miami has now been ranked in the top 50 for five consecutive weeks and for six total weeks in 2018.
-Miami enters postseason with the No. 22 duo in senior Christian Langmo and freshman Adria Soriano and the No. 67 singles player in Soriano, a new career-best achievement for him.
-Miami freshmen have captured 39 singles wins this spring. Freshman Bojan Jankulovski, who was ranked as high as No. 101 this season, leads the team this spring with a team-best 19-5 singles record, including a team-best 9-2 singles record in ACC play.
LAST TIME OUT
Miami went 2-1 in its last weekend of regular season play, downing then-No. 22 Duke, 4-3, for its second top-25 win of the season Friday, and sweeping Atlantic 10 Conference member Dayton, 4-0, on Senior Day Sunday. That was the Hurricanes’ seventh shutout of the season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Wolfpack has won at least one ACC Championship match in each of the past two years – 4-3 against Virginia Tech last season and 4-2 against Clemson in Cary in 2016. NC State dropped two of its last three regular-season contests and has given up an average of 2.7 points in its seven matches since the match in Miami.
No. 45 Alexis Galarneau (9-10 this spring) and No. 123 Igor Saveljic (10-11) are the two Wolfpack players ranked in singles this week, while Thomas Weigel and Simon Norenius make up the No. 57 tandem in the nation.
UP NEXT
The winner of Thursday’s match will face second-seeded and sixth-ranked North Carolina in the quarterfinals Friday. First serve for that match will be 5 p.m. as well.
FOLLOW US
For all of the latest news around Miami’s men’s tennis team, follow @CanesMensTennis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or go to HurricaneSports.com.
