Box Score in HTML FormatBox Score in PDF FormatFREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The Christopher Newport University men's tennis team opened the Spring 2015 season in fine fashion Saturday afternoon, picking up the program's first win over a Division I team since 2011. The Captains (1-0) won seven of nine matches to capture a 6-1 win over the Longwood University Lancers (0-2), playing on a neutral court in Fredericksburg, Va.
Playing under NCAA Division I tennis rules, in which the three doubles matches are worth one team point, the Captains picked up the pivotal starting edge with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. First, rookie
Max Katcher and sophomore
Arttu Fiva managed an 8-4 win on the third line, defeating Bharani Sankar and Rosen Ilchey. Not long after, sophomore
Steven Boslet and junior
Chiraag Shetty locked up the doubles point with an 8-6 victory at No. 2, dropping Alfonso Castellano and Florian Uffer.
Heading into singles play up 1-0, the Captains raced out to a 3-0 advantage with the first two singles wins. It was again Fiva and Katcher leading the way, as the sophomore finished first at No. 5, capturing a quick 6-0, 6-1 win over Sankar, followed by Katcher's first career dual win, 6-1, 7-6 (5).
Longwood got on the board with a win at No. 1 singles, as David Elston held off CNU's
David Reed (6-3, 7-5), but Boslet would seal the win for CNU with a three-set victory at No. 2. He dropped Uffer 6-4 in the first, fell 3-6 in the second and bounced back with a 6-3 win in the third to capture the match for CNU.
For good measure, Shetty and
Justin Cerny finished out their singles matches with wins, each posting match tiebreak victories at No. 3 and 4. Shetty won 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (11-9) and Cerny picked up a 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (11-9) win in his first dual.
It was the first time CNU played Longwood since a loss in the 2000 season. Christopher Newport improves to 6-1 all-time against the Lancers.
The Captains are back in action on Sunday, taking on another Division I program in the University of Richmond Spiders. Richmond was picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic 10. The match will begin at 6:00 pm in the Virginia Beach Tennis & Country Club after the Spiders finish a match with Old Dominion at 1:00 pm.
