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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Michael Dodd and William Trang came through with a momentum-shifting victory at No. 3 doubles, and the second-seeded Captains raced away from third-seeded Salisbury in singles for a 6-1 win in the CAC Semifinals on Wednesday afternoon. Christopher Newport will now travel to Fredericksburg on Saturday, April 23 to face the top-seeded Mary Washington Eagles in the 2016 CAC Championship. 

The Captains improved to 13-8 with the victory, while Salisbury fell to 10-9. 

In doubles action, CNU's sophomore tandem Justin Cerny and David Reed played a long first game against Grant Hudson and Michael Popielski at No. 2, but cruised to an 8-1 win after the tough opener. With the first team point in hand, the match teetered to the Sea Gulls in a regionally-ranked showdown between Steven Boslet and Chiraag Shetty of CNU and Eric Spangler and Shanon Gunther of Salisbury. The Captains came in ranked fourth in the region and the Salisbury duo was ranked fifth. After trading blows throughout, it was Salisbury who clinched an 8-6 win at the top line. 

Meanwhile, on the third court, Dodd and Trang were locked in a classic with Andrew Rainger and Kelson Weber. The CNU partners took the lead, 7-5 with match point, but Salisbury rallied to take the lead, 8-7. The Captains then regained control to force the tiebreaker, where a strong forehand game force some late volley errors by the Sea Gulls No. 3 pairing. CNU took a 2-1 lead with a 9-8 (7-3) win on the third line. 

From there, the Captains took a stranglehold on the match with three quick wins in singles on lines 4-6. Chiraag Shetty wasted little time with his opponent at No. 4, Kelson Weber, capturing a 6-0, 6-0 win to start things out. Then, junior Arttu Fiva added to his team-high win total with a matching 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 5, downing Popielski. Finally, sophomore Dillon Sykes clinched the team victory after surrendering just one game in each of his two sets, 6-1, 6-1, against Andrew Rainger. 

Fiva's 19th win of the season is his 53rd career victory, moving him up to 8th on the all-time singles victories list at Christopher Newport. He passes Jason Martin (1999-01) with 52 career wins and now trails Hugh Spain (1995-99) with 55 in 7th place on the chart. 

Christopher Newport will make a return trip to Fredericksburg, Virginia for the CAC Championship after suffering a 7-2 setback to the Eagles in the 2015 title bout. The Eagles, ranked 26th in the nation, carry a 17-9 overall record into the match after blanking Southern Virginia in the other semifinal on Wednesday.