Complete Box Score

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- On Super Bowl Sunday, the 37th-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team hosted a big matchup of their own, taking on former conference rival and 22nd-ranked N.C. Wesleyan in the 2016 season opener. With ten nationally-ranked teams on the schedule, the CNU men wasted no time picking up their first win over a ranked team, dropping the Battling Bishops (0-1) for the first time since 2008. The Captains improve to 1-0 on the season with a 7-2 victory. 

The two teams played indoors at the Centre Court Racquet Club just off the campus of Christopher Newport University. CNU sophomore Justin Cerny highlighted the action with a dominant doubles win and a thrilling come-from-behind victory over nationally-ranked Sebastian Sikh in singles play to clinch the team win. 

Cerny, a sophomore from Richmond, Va., faced off against the Bishops second-year player at No. 2 singles. During the match, CNU had surged ahead of N.C. Wesleyan, 4-1, with wins at No.  1 and 3 from David Reed and Steven Boslet. Cerny suffered a first-set loss, 6-3, but answered with a 6-3 win of his own in the second set. Then, with the match-clinching point up for grabs, Cerny sealed the victory with an ace to capture a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win. 

As long time rivals in the USA South Athletic Conference, the Captains built a 20-11 advantage in the all-time series, but the Bishops had won ten straight dating back to 2008. Last season, NC Wesleyan defeated the Captains 9-0 on the road, but CNU reversed the script in this year's battle. 

The win began with a momentum-shifting win in doubles play by junior Arttu Fiva and freshman Nicholas Ruzicka. After CNU took a 1-0 lead behind Cerny and Reed's 8-0 win at No. 2, the Bishops answered with an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles. Fiva and Ruzicka faced tough odds against Peter Hviid and Eduardo Ugalde, falling behind 4-1 and then again, 7-5, but won three straight to take the edge, 8-7. After the Bishops stopped the run to force a tiebreaker, the Captains captured the 9-8 (7-3) win on a volley that went long to clinch the match.

Carrying a 2-1 edge into singles, the Captains took control and won the match with the first three wins in singles play. Reed kicked things off with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Mark Sokolov, and junior Steven Boslet added a 7-6 (5), 6-1 win over Ioannis Brokakis. That would set up Cerny for the clincher. 

After CNU clinched, the Captains captured two more singles wins at No. 5 & 6 as Ruzicka and Fiva rounded out the day, respectively.  The freshman defeated Mikhail Konnov (6-3, 5-7, 10-8) and Fiva cruised past Ugalde (6-2, 6-4).  

The Captains schedule doesn't get any lighter as match number two will come on the road against No. 32 Washington & Lee next Sunday, February 14. That match is set to begin at 2:00 pm in Lexington, Va.