Raleigh, N.C. – The No. 37 Wolfpack men’s tennis team beat Winthrop, 6-1, on Sunday, Jan. 28 at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center on the NC State campus in Raleigh, N.C. NC State swept through doubles before grabbing five singles victories. With the win, the Pack moves to 5-0 on the year, as the Eagles slide to 0-1.
The red and white cruised through doubles at the onset of play, collecting wins at all three spots. Senior Andre Iriarte and sophomore Jay Weinacker shut out Bastian Moldehn and Arthur Takahashi, 8-0, at No. 3, while senior William Noblitt and sophomore Christian Welte got the best of Jorge Padilla and Alejandro Portugal at No. 2, 8-1. Junior’s Nick Cavaday and Ben Zink completed the trifecta at No. 1, knocking off Germano Knorr and Rodrigo Santos, 8-3.
Cavaday, currently ranked No. 99 nationally in singles play by the Fila/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, gave the Pack a 2-0 lead early on with a swift defeat of Moldehn at No. 1, 6-1, 6-0. Weinacker lengthened NC State’s advantage a No. 3 with a win over Padilla, 6-1, 6-1. Iriarte drove the final nail in the coffin, securing a Pack victory by claiming No. 4 singles over Portugal, 6-2, 6-1.
Noblitt dropped the first set to Santos at No. 2 singles, but rebounded to force a tiebreaker for the match. Trailing 7-0 in the tiebreak, Noblitt put together an inspired rally, but ultimately fell short, 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7). Zink followed with a win at No. 6, flying past Thiago Barbosa, 6-2, 6-1. At No. 5, Welte took the opening frame in a tiebreaker, before shutting the door on competition and collecting the decision over Takahashi, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
NC State returns to the courts on Sunday, Feb. 11, with a match against No. 50 Penn. The competition will be held at the J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center on the NC State campus. Play is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
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No. 37 NC State d. Winthrop, 6-1
Doubles
1. Cavaday/Zink d. G. Knorr/R. Santos (WU), 8-3
2. Noblitt/Welte d. J. Padilla/A. Portugal (WU), 8-1
3. Iriarte/Weinacker d. B. Moldehn/A. Takahashi (WU), 8-0
Singles
1. No. 99 Cavaday d. B. Moldehn (WU), 6-1, 6-0
2. R. Santos (WU) d. Noblitt, 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7)
3. Weinacker d. J. Padilla (WU), 6-1, 6-1
4. Iriarte d. A. Portugal (WU), 6-2, 6-1
5. Welte d. A. Takahashi (WU), 7-6 (5), 6-3
6. Zink d. T. Barbosa (WU), 6-2, 6-1
Courtesy: NC State
