Grueling. That’s one way to describe the men’s tennis team’s schedule so far. After starting off the season with a historic 45-1 record in the first seven matches, the schedule became littered with ranked opponents and tough battles. 

Before this weekend, six of the team’s last nine matches have been against ranked opponents, including two against the former No. 1 Tennessee and current No. 1 Ohio State. This weekend, the road did not get any easier, as the team traveled to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, which features the 16 best teams in the nation. 

In the bracket, Wake Forest placed as the No. 8 seed, which bought them a rematch with the No. 9-seed Georgia Bulldogs. In the first matchup, Wake Forest won due to the dominance of Siddant Banthia and Jakob Schnaitter in their doubles match. On Friday, the match was tied 3-3 and it all came down (again) to sophomore Filippo Moroni. Tied at one set apiece, Moroni pulled out the third set, giving the Demon Deacons their fourth-ranked win this season. 

“It was a big battle,” Men’s Tennis Coach Tony Bresky said. “The team showed a lot of toughness across the board. It was awesome to see Moroni in the last match again. He handled like a champ and continues to grow in confidence in those clutch moments.” 

The win paved the way for a rematch against number one ranked Ohio State, who dominated No. 16-seed Washington 4-1 the day before. Unfortunately, the Demon Deacons suffered a similar fate. The Buckeyes came out rolling in singles play, with Wake Forest’s Jurabek Kamirov falling to number six ranked Matej Vocel, and Wake Forest’s Banthia falling to Robert Cash, who improved to 11-2 on the year. OSU grabbed two more singles victories in straight sets, quickly clinching them the four to nothing win. 

The loss sent the Demon Deacons to the consolation bracket to take on the Texas Longhorns. After Taha Baadhi, Schnaitter, and Eduardo Nava all compiled singles victories in straight sets, the Demon Deacons found themselves in a familiar position. Once again, Moroni had the ability to clinch the win. In another three-set battle, Moroni outlasted Eliot Spizzirri 6-3 in the final set, giving Wake Forest a 4-2 win over the Longhorns. 

“I thought we were resilient,” Bresky said. “We’re a program that fights and we expect to be in these kinds of positions.” 

The Demon Deacons come away from the tournament with two wins, which after a demoralizing loss to Ohio State, is something to be proud of.