College Tennis News - No. 24 Deacons Rally to Defeat NC State 5-2

RALEIGH, N.C. - No. 24 Wake Forest won five of the six singles matches to come from behind and defeat No. 44 NC State on Sunday at the Dail Outdoor Tennis Stadium in Raleigh, NC.

After dropping the doubles point, the Demon Deacons (12-5, 1-1 ACC) came on strong in singles, winning three matches in straight sets and two others in three sets, including the clinching win by David Hopkins at the No. 1 singles position.

The Deacons had fallen into a 2-0 hole after NC State's Austin Powell beat Danny Kreyman at No. 3 singles, but Jon Ho posted the first point for Wake Forest at No. 5, beating Sean Weber 7-5, 6-3, and Adam Lee tied the score at 2-2 with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dave Thomson at No. 4.

Sam Bloom finished off Beck Bond 7-5, 6-4 at No. 6 singles to give Wake Forest its first lead of the afternoon at 3-2. At the time, the two remaining matches on court, No. 1 and No. 2 were both in their third sets.

At the top position, Wake Forest's David Hopkins cruised by NC State's Robbie Mudge 6-1, but Mudge came back to take the second set 6-4, forcing a deciding third frame. However, in the final set, Hopkins again jumped out to a big lead and held onto it, closing out the 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 win that clinched the overall victory for the Demon Deacons.

No. 56 Amogh Prabhakar then followed by closing out his own three-set victory at No. 2, topping Thomas Weigel 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to earn Wake Forest's fifth point.

Wake Forest's No. 2 doubles tandem of Danny Kreyman and Adam Lee beat NC State's Beck Bond and Austin Powell 8-4, but the Wolfpack came back to win at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions to take the doubles point.

At the third position, Wake Forest's Sam Bloom and Jon Ho had held a 6-5 lead over Robbie Mudge and Thomas Weigel, but the Wolfpack duo rallied to win the next three games, taking the match 8-4. NC State's 12th-ranked top doubles team of Sean Weber and Dave Thomson beat No. 70 David Hopkins/Amogh Prabhakar 8-4 to give the Wolfpack the doubles point.

The Demon Deacons will face another ACC road test on Friday when they travel to take on Georgia Tech in Atlanta at 2 p.m.

#24 Wake Forest 5, #44 NC State 2

Singles
1. David Hopkins (WF) def. Robbie Mudge (NCSU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
2. #56 Amogh Prabhakar (WF) def. Thomas Weigel (NCSU) 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
3. Austin Powell (NCSU) def. Danny Kreyman (WF) 6-1, 6-2
4. Adam Lee (WF) def. Dave Thomson (NCSU) 7-5, 6-3
5. Jon Ho (WF) def. Sean Weber (NCSU) 7-5, 6-3
6. Sam Bloom (WF) def. Beck Bond (NCSU) 7-5, 6-4

Doubles
1. #12 Dave Thomson/Sean Weber (NCSU) def. #70 David Hopkins/Amogh Prabhakar (WF) 8-4
2. Danny Kreyman/Adam Lee (WF) def. Austin Powell/Beck Bond (NCSU) 8-4
3. Thomas Weigel/Robbie Mudge (NCSU) def. Sam Bloom/Jon Ho (WF) 8-6

Match Notes:
Wake Forest 12-5, 1-1 ACC; National ranking #24
NC State 7-6, 1-1 ACC; National ranking #44
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1*); Singles (3,5,4,6,1*,2)
T-4:00 A-85