Tigers Battle, Drop Match to No. 20 NC State

RALEIGH, N.C. – After a tough battle, the Clemson Tigers dropped their Friday night conference-match to No. 20 NC State as the Wolfpack took the victory, 4-0.

In doubles, the Wolfpack struck first as they secured a 6-3 victory on court two. The Tigers were able to respond as the freshman duo of Marko Mesarovic and Stewart Aronson recorded a 6-3 victory over NC State’s Robin Catry and Luca Staeheli to even the score.

On court three, the Wolfpack tabbed a 6-4 victory and took the doubles point to give them the 1-0 lead.

In singles, the Tigers fought hard as NC State stole wins on courts five and three as they increased their advantage to 3-0. With only one more win needed to secure the overall victory, NC State’s Braden Shick, who is ranked No. 95 in the nation in singles, sealed the win for the Wolfpack as he came out victorious on court two to finalize the score, 4-0.

Ryuhei Azuma, Matt Pitts and Mesarovic all had to leave their matches unfinished as Pitts just recorded a comeback victory in set two and Mesarovic was up 3-2 in the second set.

Up next, the Tigers will head to Winston-Salem, N.C. to take on Wake Forest at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 10. For complete coverage of the Clemson men’s tennis team, follow @ClemsonMTennis on Twitter and Instagram.

Clemson 0, NC State 4

Doubles:

1. Marko Mesarovic/Stewart Aronson (CU) def. Robin Catry/Luca Staeheli (ST) 6-3
2. Damien Salvestre/Joseph Wayand (ST) def. #62 Noa Vukadin/Max Damm (CU) 6-3
3. Braden Shick/Fons Van Sambeek (ST) def. Max Smith/Wissam Abderrahman (CU) 6-4

Order of finish: 2,1,3

Singles:

1. #58 Robin Catry (ST) vs. Ryuhei Azuma (CU) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
2. #95 Braden Shick (ST) def. #75 Wissam Abderrahman (CU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Luca Staeheli (ST) def. Noa Vukadin (CU) 6-0, 6-4
4. #103 Fons Van Sambeek (ST) vs. Marko Mesarovic (CU) 6-4, 2-3, unfinished
5. Damien Salvestre (ST) def. Stewart Aronson (CU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Martin Borisiouk (ST) vs. Matt Pitts (CU) 4-6, 6-3, unfinished

Order of finish: 5,3,2