FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- A highly-anticipated stand off between two of the top teams in the Capital Athletic Conference will be resolved on Saturday afternoon, as the 20th-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team travels to 27th-ranked Mary Washington for a pivotal Capital Athletic Conference matchup. The match time has been adjusted as the two teams will now face off at 1:30 pm at the Battleground Athletic Complex in Fredericksburg, Va.

With just three regular season conference matchups left, playoff implications are huge for Saturday's matchup as both teams position for a potential postseason run. The Captains enter the match with a 10-5 overall record and spotless 4-0 mark in conference play, while the Eagles are 14-7 overall with a 6-0 mark against CAC opponents.  

The all-time series favors the home team, 20-10, as the Eagles have won five straight since the Captains' last victory in 2010. This season, Christopher Newport ranks higher than Mary Washington in the Oracle/ITA Division III National Rankings for the first time in the four-year tenure of Director of Tennis Eric Christiansen's run as CNU's head coach. The Captains are ranked No. 3 in the Atlantic South, while the Eagles are checking in at No. 9 in the most recent release from the ITA. 

Christopher Newport features a pair of regionally-ranked sophomores in singles play, and one regionally-ranked doubles tandem. Sophomores David Reed, at No.7, and Justin Cerny, at No. 17, are leading the way in singles action, while junior Steven Boslet and senior Chiraag Shetty check in at No. 5 in the doubles rankings. 

Joining Reed and Cerny among the Captains' top singles players is two-time CAC Player of the Week Arttu Fiva. The CNU junior leads the team in victories, with 17, while playing at five different lines this season. Reed has played at No. 1 in 12 matches, winning six times, and Cerny is the primary option at No. 2, going 8-3 this spring. In doubles action, Boslet and Shetty have eight wins at No. 1 doubles this season, while Reed and Cerny also have eight wins in 11 attempts at the No. 2 line.

Mary Washington has won 16 straight CAC championships and are led by 11-time CAC Coach of the Year Todd Helbling, the winningest coach in CAC history. The Eagles haven't lost a regular season conference match since 1999 and come into Saturday's tilt winners in five of their last six matches. Two Eagles have won 18 singles matches this year, including regionally-ranked David Lunding-Johansson, who checks in at No. 15 in the Atlantic South. Brandon Griffin is also regionally-ranked, listed at No. 19 regionally. 

Following the action, the Captains will continue their travels north to face York College (Pa.) on Sunday, April 10 at 9:00 am.