MADISON, Wis. – Serving against NC State in the first meeting in program history, No. 8 Stanford men's tennis earned a 4-3 victory over the 10th-ranked Wolfpack on Friday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The win marked the 100th in the Taube Family Director of Men's Tennis Paul Goldstein's career, making him the fourth head coach in program history to reach the milestone.
Freshman Neel Rajesh provided the final blow for Stanford (7-1), posting his fifth three-set victory of the season over Robin Catry, 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-4. The clinching point was the third of the season for Rajesh, who moved to 13-5 overall and 5-0 in dual action with the result.
NC State (8-1) was dealt its first loss of the season despite earning the doubles point early in the match. Tomas Kopczynski and Alexandre Rotsaert teamed up for a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles, but the Wolfpack won in a tiebreak on court one to take an early lead.
Sridhar was the first to wrap his singles bout, posting a straight set win, 6-1, 6-4, to even the score, 1-1. Rotsaert and Filip Kolasinski followed at No. 2 and No. 6, respectively, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-4, 6-4. NC State tied the match at 3-3 with subsequent wins on courts one and four.
Stanford gets a rematch from its lone defeat this season, as it will face No. 1 USC on Saturday at 10 a.m PT.
DOUBLES
1) No. 12 Babelis/Barkai (NCST) d. Geller/Rajesh (STAN), 7-6 (3)
2) No. 44 Galarneau/Turzak (NCST) d. Sah/Sridhar (STAN), 6-1
3) Tomas Kopczynski/Rotsaert (STAN) d. Izquierdo Luque/Schick, 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
1) No. 77 Alexis Galarneau (NCST) d. No. 16 Axel Geller (STAN), 7-6 (5), 6-4
2) No. 21 Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN) d. Tadas Babelis (NCST), 6-4, 6-3
3) No. 57 Sangeet Sridhar (STAN) d. Yannai Barkai (NCST), 6-1, 6-4
4) Rafael Izquierdo Luque (NCST) d. Timothy Sah (STAN), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
5) No. 98 Neel Rajesh (STAN) vs. Robin Catry (NCST)
6) Filip Kolasinski (STAN) d. Martin Rocens (NCST), 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 6, 1, 4, 5