Box Score in HTML FormatSALISBURY, Md. -- It was like deja vu all over again. Less than one week ago, with home court in the CAC Semifinals on the line, the Captains' regular season finale against Salisbury would come down to the final singles pairing at No. 5. Then, Salisbury's Sean Ngo outlasted CNU sophomore
Arttu Fiva to capture the second seed in this week's CAC Tournament, but Fiva would have a chance to avenge his loss on Tuesday afternoon as the story line followed the exact same script. This time, Fiva would come out on top, battling back from a 4-2 deficit in the third and final set to propel third-seeded CNU into the 2015 CAC Championship against Mary Washington.
Christopher Newport (13-10) will play for its first CAC Championship against the 15-time defending champion Eagles on Saturday, April 25. Salisbury falls to 16-5 overall with the setback against the Captains.
Fiva's clinching match concluded an intense, four-hour-plus affair between the two conference rivals, and would not come easy. Facing Ngo again, he surged ahead with a 6-3 win in the first set, but the Salisbury rookie bounced back to hold off the straight set win with a 7-5 victory in the second. Ngo carried the momentum into the third set, where he took a 4-2 lead over the CNU sophomore. In what would prove to be the key point, Fiva broke Ngo's serve after several deuces, and then held to tie things up at four. The run continued for Fiva when he broke Ngo again, setting up the match-clinching game with the serve.
The game would run to 30-all before Ngo volleyed a shot long to give Fiva match point. On the ensuing rally, CNU's second-year player charged in for a big backhand, forcing an error that ended the match. Fiva finished off the battle 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
After going down 2-1 in doubles last week, the Captains came out firing in pairs play on Tuesday night. CNU would capture a pivotal reversal in doubles, taking a 2-1 edge of their own in the semifinals. The key point came in No. 3 doubles, as Fiva paired with
Max Katcher to again reverse the script on Salisbury. Last week, Ngo and Shanon Gunther escaped with a 9-7 win over the CNU tandem and this week, the Captains came away with a win by the same score.
In singles, rookie
David Reed captured an important win on the top line in a battle of regionally-ranked opponents. He dropped Daniel Albers (7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 6-2) for a big win that gave CNU a short-lived 4-3 lead in the match, setting up Fiva's clincher. Fellow freshman
Max Katcher also won via two breakers in a hard-fought match, dropping Adam Goldberger at No. 6 by a final score of 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4).
The Captains advance to their first ever CAC Final and will travel to Fredericksburg, Va. to take on the 18th ranked Eagles. Match time will be announced later.
