RALEIGH, N.C. – In its ACC debut and first conference road trip, the 22nd-ranked California men's tennis team got singles victories from Alex Chang and Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski but suffered its first loss of the season in a 4-2 setback at No. 10 NC State.
 
The Golden Bears now have a 7-1 record (0-1 ACC). The Wolfpack is 9-4 (1-0).
 
Down 2-0 after dropping the doubles point and the first singles result, Cal got on the scoreboard when Chang, a 70th-ranked senior, defeated Martin Borisioux 6-2, 6-2 at court-two singles. The veteran Bear improved his singles record to 17-7 with a good win over his 25th-ranked opponent.
 
The Bears trailed 3-1 after Timofey Stepanov lost to Fons Van Sambeek 6-2, 6-1, but they rebounded when Lechno-Wasiutynski won 6-1, 6-4 over Nikolay Nedelchev to make the score 3-2. The freshman – who joined Cal in January – is still unbeaten in his short college career with a 5-0 record.
 
NC State clinched its win on court five, where Cal's 83rd-ranked Derrick Chen was edged 6-4, 6-4 by Jules Leroux.
 
"It was one of those matches you want to get back," said Kris Kwinta, Cal's Peter Wright Director of Men's Tennis. "But that's why we play in a tough conference – to learn to play our best tennis in these conditions, and we didn't. We started well but let off in doubles. Once they won the doubles point they were more confident in singles, and really we gave that one away. It's a shame, but such is sports. It's a tough place to play. We had too many errors and gave easy wins to them. Once a team gets going like that at home, it's tough to win there.
 
"Good performances by Changer and Fryderyk, but we didn't play our best at all. We were too careful, playing not to lose, so we need to make some adjustments going forward. It's the first loss of the season, but you can let some of the expectations go now, swing freely and play to win. I'm really looking forward to that Wake Forest match."
 
Cal closes its road trip at the top-ranked Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on Sunday.
 
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