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NEWPORT NEWS -- Christopher Newport's Eric Shulman and Matt King took a major step on the road to Cary, but the Captains couldn't quite pull an upset of three-time defending USA South champion North Carolina Wesleyan on Tuesday.

The Bishops, ranked fifth in NCAA Division III, overcame the co-No. 30 Captains 6-3 despite falling behind 2-1 in doubles.

King and Shulman staked their claim toward moving up among the nation's elite. At No. 1 doubles, they registered an eye-popping 8-3 victory over Robert Kjellberg and Alexey Rumyantsev, the same tandem that beat them in the third-place match of the ITA Small College Championships last fall in Mobile, Ala.

King and Shulman are ranked third in the Atlantic South Region, while Kjellberg and Rumyantsev are ranked first. The region's top four will advance to the 16-team NCAA doubles tournament in Cary, N.C., in May.

NCWC took a 1-0 lead by saving numerous break points for an 8-3 triumph at third doubles, with longtime Bishops Marcelo Prata and Anton Filonov beating Kyle Tobin and Robbie Wagner.

Shulman and King got CNU even, and the Captains went ahead 2-1 when Gian Heyer and Joey Manilla won the last three games to defeat Rinat Khussainov and Peter Hviid 8-6 at No. 2 doubles. That gave the CNU fans and players a surge of adrenaline.

But, as they did in the 2010 USA South tournament final in Burlington, N.C., the deep, internationally diverse Bishops played formidably in singles to overcome a 2-1 deficit to the Captains.

They won at spots 3, 4, 5 and 6 in straight sets despite determined efforts from the underdog Captains.

At No. 2, Kjellberg outlasted Heyer 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Kjellberg is ranked seventh and Heyer 14th in regional singles.

Shulman, who has climbed to second in the regional rankings, continued to strengthen not only his case for being in the 32-man tournament but also for becoming one of its eight seeds. He won 6-0, 6-2 at line 1 over Khussainov, the region's No. 13 player.

The Captains will return to action Thursday when they cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, go into Maryland and face Salisbury at 3 p.m. The Sea Gulls are in the Capital Athletic Conference, which CNU plans to join in 2013-14.

CNU is ranked eighth in the Atlantic South and Salisbury 13th. New rankings are due this week.