Complete Box ScoreLEXINGTON, Va. -- In their first test as a nationally-ranked team in 2015, the 38th-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team made certain to assuage any doubts they belonged among the nation's elite, battling with one of the top teams in the region before suffering a 6-3 loss to the 36th-ranked Washington & Lee Generals on Friday afternoon. The Captains (7-4) won a pair of singles matches, including at the top spot, and one doubles matchup in their first of three matches this weekend.
Washington & Lee improved to 9-3 on the season with the win over the Captains, who suffered just their fourth loss of the season with three coming at the hands of nationally-ranked programs.
At No. 3 and No. 5 singles, the teams traded 6-0, 6-0 victories, but the remaining seven matches were all extremely competitive in a thrilling matchup. In doubles play, CNU captured an 8-5 win from
Max Katcher and
Arttu Fiva in the No. 3 position, improving to 7-3 on the season. Washington & Lee managed an 8-3 win at No. 2, and held off a tough CNU tandem of
Justin Cerny and
David Reed in the No. 1 pairing, 8-6.
The Generals carried a 2-1 lead into singles, but CNU quickly tied the match up behind Cerny's dominant win at No. 3. The Captains rookie dropped Will Bannister in straight sets without giving up a game, evening the team score at two. Ethan Markman responded with the win at No. 5, but Reed responded with a win at the No. 1 position to tie things up at three. Reed defeated Michael Holt (6-4, 7-5) in a competitive matchup at the top.
In the No. 2 matchup, sophomore
Steven Boslet won the first set, 6-3, but Jordan Krasner came back to win the next two 6-4, 6-2 and give the home team a chance at the match with two left to play. The clincher came with another tough, hard-fought win at No. 4, where CNU sophomore
Arttu Fiva stretched Brian Kouskos to 7-6 in the first set and won the second, 6-4, but could not pull out the win in the third.
The Captains return to action on Saturday, when they take on Sewanee in a neutral site matchup before traveling to Southern Virginia University for the Capital Athletic Conference season opener.
