The No. 13 Duke men's tennis team (10-9, 5-0 in the ACC) thrashed N.C. State (4-15, 0-4) 6-1 Wednesday afternoon on the Wolfpack's home turf. The win, the Blue Devils' 46th consecutive ACC victory, maintained Duke's perfect conference record for the season.
"They're not one of the stronger teams," top-seed Phillip King said of the Wolfpack. "We probably should have won 7-0."
King, a sophomore, defeated Matt Lucas 6-2, 6-1 at No.1 singles. Yani also handily defeated Ryan Boward in the No. 2 position.
N.C. State's only point came when Murray defeated Zimmerman at the No. 3 singles position.
"He was having an off day," Lapidus said of Zimmerman, who was ranked 123rd in the nation entering Wednesday's match.
The Wolfpack also put up a fight in singles competition. Joel Spicher and Alex Bose won singles matches at Nos. 4 and 6 in tough matches that each went into three sets.
Michael Yani and Yorke Allen, playing No. 1 doubles, bested Lucas and R.J. Murray in a tiebreaker.
"It was just a matter of keeping concentration for two sets," Yani said.
Spicher and Shults defeated State's Bryce McGrory and Ryan Boward, while Bose and freshman Jason Zimmerman took down Jagjeet Sandhu and Jon Davis, both with a score 8-2.
"We won the doubles very easily at the [Nos.] 2 and 3 positions," Lapidus said.
He added that a few State players have experienced injuries, putting the Wolfpack at a further disadvantage.
"They were a little depleted," Lapidus said.
The team now looks to a critical match this weekend against No. 25 TCU, a team that defeated the Blue Devils 4-3 last season and entered this year's matchup at 9-6. Duke's players saw the N.C. State contest as a useful tune-up for their upcoming match against the Horned Frogs, who pose a much stiffer challenge.
"It is imperative that we win, to be able to host the first two rounds of regionals," Yani said.
Duke's performance in the upcoming matches determine its ACC standings. The team will face Clemson Sunday and UNC next Wednesday, both at home.
"We are looking to come full force on Saturday, and next Sunday when we play Florida, who is in the top 10," said Yani, noting the strength of the Blue Devils' upcoming schedule.
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