Complete Box Score

ORANGE, Calif. -- The 37th-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team picked up it's second win over a nationally-ranked team this season on Sunday, pushing past 38th-ranked Chapman University (1-3) on the road, 6-3. The Captains improved to 3-4 overall with the win, and were led by sophomore Justin Cerny and rookie Nicholas Ruzicka. 

Facing their fourth straight nationally-ranked Division III program in a run of six straight to start the year, the Captains did not bow from their top-tier competition in California on Sunday. CNU carried a pair of victories into singles play after going 2-1 in doubles, and pulled out several close singles wins to capture the win. 

In pairs play, Cerny started his day off with an 8-5 win at No. 2, playing with sophomore David Reed. The second-year tandem defeated Chris Damion and Josh Sarsfield to get CNU on the board. Then, in the No. 3 matchup, Ruzicka and fellow freshman William Trang won by the same score, 8-5, over Sam Mitteldorf and Justin P. Thompson. 

Pulling ahead 2-1, the Captains carried momentum into singles play. All six matchups featured back-and-forth play, with CNU pulling out four sets that were stretched to a seventh game. 

Cerny capped a strong performance by defeating Mitteldorf in the No. 2 position (6-3, 6-1), and Ruzicka also added his second win of the day when he took down Thompson at No. 5 (6-1, 7-5). 

Senior Chiraag Shetty pulled out a first set tiebreaker at No. 4 before capturing a 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory over Hunter Morris. Rounding out the CNU victories was junior Arttu Fiva, downing Damion in the No. 6 matchup, 7-5, 6-3. 

Christopher Newport will continue it's difficult schedule on Tuesday, March 1, traveling to No. 34 Cal Lutheran (1-2) at 2:00 pm (PST).