The Terrapin men’s tennis team entered this season with essentially no experience, a new coach, six new faces and a reputation as one of the ACC’s cellar dwellers.

However, they enter today’s match against No. 23 Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament with a new image as a team that has taken its lumps and proven it is battle-tested — even with a 1-10 conference record.

“There’s no excuses about being freshmen anymore,” coach Kyle Spencer said. “We’re at the end of the season; they’re not young anymore.”

While the Terps (13-12) arrive in Cary, N.C., with a 10-match losing streak (all against conference opponents), the team they will field is a far cry from the squad that lost handily to Georgia Tech and Clemson less than three weeks ago.

This improvement was on display last weekend as the Terps rounded out their regular season with hard-fought losses at then-No. 50 N.C. State and at then-No. 23 Demon Deacons. The Terps were anything but overmatched in their 4-3 and 6-1 losses.

“We did a much better job last weekend; we were right there to win those matches,” Spencer said.

Spencer added the Terps could still earn the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a solid run in this weekend’s tournament as the No. 11 seed.

The Terps will see a familiar opponent today, as they are just four days removed from Sunday’s loss to the Demon Deacons (13-8).

Spencer sees the Terps’ recent experience with Wake Forest as an advantage, especially after he juggled his line-up for today’s match.

Sergio Wyss, who played at No. 2 singles Sunday, will switch positions with John Collins, who was in the No. 1 slot. A similar switch will take place at No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots, with Ryan Lissner dropping to No. 6 and Graham Knowlton taking over at No. 5.

“They are coming out with virtually the same line-up,” Spencer said of the Demon Deacons. “Familiarity is always a good thing, and we left a win on the table against them last weekend.

“We know what we’re up against, [Wake Forest] has no Goliath. It takes the guesswork out of the beginning of the match.”

No. 18 North Carolina awaits the winner of today’s match. The Terps gave the No. 3 seed Tar Heels a scare March 26, dropping a 4-3 heartbreaker in a decisive No. 6 singles third-set tiebreak.

After what Spencer described as a great week of practice, the Terps must win close individual matches before the goal of a deep tournament run can be realized. The program has not won in the first round of the ACC Tournament since 1986, when they eventually lost in the conference championship.

“Our inability to win three-set matches has really hurt us all season,” Spencer said after the loss to the Demon Deacons, where three separate three-set losses sealed the Terps’ fate in a close match.

For Spencer, today is the day for the Terps, whose 13-2 start was the team’s best start to a season since 1986, to return to their winning ways.

“We’ve just got to get over that hump,” he said yesterday. “Tomorrow we’re going to.”

cwalsh@umdbk.com