![\"\"](\"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/JoeandBooncourt-1024x576.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen they have time off the court, you might find the two refueling at Coco Bongo, a Mexican restaurant on Hillsborough Street, where Wayand orders arroz con pollo and Borisiouk gets fajitas. Borisiouk is also teaching Wayand about his culture, including a few Russian phrases and an appreciation for Russian classical music: Tchaikovsky\u2019s Swan Lake<\/em> is a favorite for Borisiouk. \u201cI\u2019m getting into that,\u201d Wayand says of the music. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Borisiouk revels in the team\u2019s camaraderie. \u201cWe practice hard during practice,\u201d he says. \u201cBut after practice, we\u2019re always making jokes.\u201d And Wayand, who grew up just a few miles from campus, has embraced the opportunity to learn about a culture so far removed from his own. \u201cIt\u2019s weird to see how similar you are,\u201d he says, \u201cnot just as tennis players, but just as guys.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n NC State tennis player Martin Borisiouk, a Belarus native, is still perfecting his English. But Borisiouk and his doubles teammate, junior Joe Wayand, agree language isn\u2019t required for their success. Together, the pair ended the fall 2023 season with a 9-0 record, a No. 13 spot in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association doubles rankings and a catchy nickname\u2009\u2014\u2009Joe and Bo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe have language problems and barriers,\u201d says Borisiouk, a sophomore majoring in sport management. \u201cBut, at the same time, on the tennis court, we\u2019re on the same page. And our game is pretty similar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wayand, a junior from Cary, N.C., who\u2019s majoring in business administration, chalks up their success to that compatibility and their coaching. Wolfpack head coach Kyle Spencer represented Great Britain in doubles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and has experience with the sport at a high level. \u201cIf you follow what [Spencer is] saying, it all makes sense on the court,\u201d Wayand says. \u201cThat\u2019s where the unspoken agreements can come into play and benefit us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When they have time off the court, you might find the two refueling at Coco Bongo, a Mexican restaurant on Hillsborough Street, where Wayand orders arroz con pollo and Borisiouk gets fajitas. Borisiouk is also teaching Wayand about his culture, including a few Russian phrases and an appreciation for Russian classical music: Tchaikovsky\u2019s Swan Lake<\/em> is a favorite for Borisiouk. \u201cI\u2019m getting into that,\u201d Wayand says of the music. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Borisiouk revels in the team\u2019s camaraderie. \u201cWe practice hard during practice,\u201d he says. \u201cBut after practice, we\u2019re always making jokes.\u201d And Wayand, who grew up just a few miles from campus, has embraced the opportunity to learn about a culture so far removed from his own. \u201cIt\u2019s weird to see how similar you are,\u201d he says, \u201cnot just as tennis players, but just as guys.\u201d<\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite the language barrier, tennis players \u201cJoe and Bo\u201d double up for success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-immersive.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-immersive-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"backgroundColor\":\"gray_800\",\"displayCategoryID\":5,\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"subtitle\":\"Despite the language barrier, tennis players \u201cJoe and Bo\u201d double up for success.\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8,9],"tags":[109,1438,1436,1437,1435,1042,1440,1439,1136],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"displayCategory":{"term_id":5,"name":"Best Bets","slug":"best-bets","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":49,"filter":"raw"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5524"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5541,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5524\/revisions\/5541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5524"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=5524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}By Sarah Lindenfeld Hall<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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