Men’s Tennis Drops Match at NC State, 4-1
RALEIGH, N.C. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team fell against No. 22 NC State, 4-1, Friday afternoon at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
“Listen, that simply wasn’t good enough. We got beat and credit to NC State,” Miami head coach Aljosa Piric said. “We simply have to play better, we have to decide as a team that we will embrace indoor conditions on the road. Also, we have to make individual decisions that it is not okay to lose these matches.
“When we do that, individually and collectively, we are going to start being more successful on the road, indoors,” Piric continued. “We had one guy [sophomore Bojan Jankulovski] who decided he was going to play to win and that he was going to compete and be successful, and he ended up winning a point for us. So, it really starts with a decision and our guys need to make a decision that it is not okay to lose these matches. It is as simple as that.”
Following the result, No. 25 Miami (16-8, 7-4 ACC) locked up the fifth seed at the ACC Championship and will square off against the winner of the opening qualifier match between Boston College and Clemson Thursday at 9 a.m.
Friday afternoon, NC State (17-9, 8-4 ACC) logged the first doubles win, as No. 44 Alexis Galarneau and Michael Ogden topped redshirt junior Dane Dunlap and junior Stephen Madonia, 6-0.
Competing alongside one another for the first time, sophomore Tatsuki Shimamoto and freshman Franco Aubone dropped their match against Tabas Babelis and Yannai Barkai, 6-3, as the Wolpack clinched the doubles point.
In the lone doubles match to remain unfinished, sophomores Jankulovski and Adria Soriano Barrera had claimed back-to-back points to pull within a game, 4-5, against Igor Saveljic and Ivan Saveljic.
In singles, the Wolfpack quickly doubled its lead when Igor Saveljic posted a 6-0, 6-2 win over Dunlap.
In a top-60 battle, No. 23 Galarneau took down No. 55 Soriano Barrera, 6-2, 6-3, as NC State took a commanding 3-0 lead.
Competing at No. 4 singles, No. 81 Jankulovski claimed the opening 10 games against Barkai, as the sophomore placed Miami on the board with a 6-0, 6-3 triumph.
Moments later, Aubone came up short against Babelis, 3-6, 4-6, as NC State clinched the overall match, 4-1.
The other two matches did not begin, as the match was clinched before courts became available for Madonia and sophomore William Grattan-Smith.
The Hurricanes will wrap up the 2019 regular season in Winston-Salem, N.C., Sunday at 1 p.m. against the defending national champion, fourth-ranked Wake Forest.
To keep up with the University of Miami men’s tennis team on social media, follow @CanesMensTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Singles
1. No. 23 Alexis Galarneau (ST) def. No. 55 Adria Soriano Barrera (UM), 6-2, 6-3
2. Igor Saveljic (ST) def. Dane Dunlap (UM), 6-0, 6-2
3. Tadas Babelis (ST) def. Franco Aubone (UM), 6-3, 6-4
4. No. 81 Bojan Jankulovski (UM) def. Yannai Barkai (ST), 6-0, 6-3
5. Stephen Madonia (UM) vs. Robert Turzak (ST), no result
6. W. Grattan-Smith (UM) vs. Georgiy Malyshev (ST), no result
Doubles
1. #44 Alexis Galarneau/Michael Ogden (ST) def. Stephen Madonia/Dane Dunlap (UM), 6-0
2. Igor Saveljic/Ivan Saveljic (ST) vs. Bojan Jankulovski/Adria Soriano Barrera (UM), 5-4 [unfinished]
3. Yannai Barkai/Tadas Babelis (ST) def. Franco Aubone/Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM), 6-3
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,1,4,3)
