GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Christopher Newport University men's tennis will play for the USA South Championship again, setting up a rematch off the 2010 final against top-seeded North Carolina Wesleyan. Both teams advanced with semifinal victories today, as #2 CNU dropped #3 Averett Universtiy, 5-2 at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Complex.

Three Captains won at both singles and doubles, led by junior Eric Shulman, posting wins at both No. 1 positions. Shulman dropped the Kirill Orlov (6-2, 7-5) at No. 1 singles and then paired with Dusty Nelson for the No.1  doubles win over Orlov and Iliya Egorov (8-1). Nelson also won at No. 5 singles in a 6-3, 6-3 straight-set victory over Bruno Faidutti.

Josef Manilla also won a pair of matches on Saturday morning, winning over Egorov at No. 6 singles (6-4, 6-2) and then pairing with Matthew King in the No. 2 doubles match for an 8-3 victory. His singles win ended the match for CNU, giving them five wins on the day.

Christopher Newport will now advance to face the Battling Bishops in the USA South Final tomorrow at 10:00 am. Last season, the two teams faced in the Tournament Championship and N.C. Wesleyan came away with the win, 6-3.

2011 USA South Men's Tennis Tournament
#2 Christopher Newport University 5, #3 Averett University 2
Doubles:
1. SHULMAN, Eric/NELSON, Dusty (CNU) def. ORLOV, Kirill/EGOROV, Iliya (AU) 8-1
2. KING, Matthew/MANILLA, Josef (CNU) def. RUIZ, Xavier/FAIDUTTI, Bruno (AU) 8-3
3. LEMBKE, David/YASYR, Andrey (AU) def. HEYER, Gianandrea/SISON, Lorenzo (CNU) 9-7

Singles:
1. SHULMAN, Eric (CNU) def. ORLOV, Kirill (AU) 6-2, 7-5
2. HEYER, Gianandrea (CNU) vs. RUIZ, Xavier (AU) 6-3, 2-6, 2-3 unfinished
3. LEMBKE, David (AU) def. WIDING, Garrett (CNU) 6-4, 6-2
4. KING, Matthew (CNU) vs. YASYR, Andrey (AU) 6-2, 3-0 unfinished
5. NELSON, Dusty (CNU) def. FAIDUTTI, Bruno (AU) 6-3, 6-3
6. MANILLA, Josef (CNU) def. EGOROV, Iliya (AU) 6-4, 6-2

Match Notes:
#3 Averett (11-5)
#2 CNU (14-6)
CNU advances to Sunday's title match