Box Score vs. Oberlin ||
Box Score vs. Carnegie Mellon
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- A dominating win and a narrow loss marked the end of the fall schedule for the Christopher Newport men's tennis team on Sunday afternoon, as the Captains traveled to Pittsburgh to close out 2017. CNU cruised to a 9-0 win over Oberlin College (0-1) on the neutral courts of Carnegie Mellon University before the host Tartans (3-0) edged out the Captains, 5-4.
Dominic Lacombe,
Andy Mason, and NIcholas Ruzicka led the way for Christopher Newport in the performance, as each won both of their singles matches. Ruzicka also added a pair of doubles victories with partner
Jackson Guilford.
First, in the shutout victory over the Yeomen, the Captains raced out to a 3-0 lead after doubles.
Justin Cerny and
David Reed cruised to an 8-1 win at No. 1, while Mason and
William Trang won, 8-5, at No. 2. In the No. 3 matchup featuring Ruzicka and
Jackson Guilford, the Captains pulled out a 9-7 victory to earn the doubles sweep.
In singles action, CNU got straight set victories at 4-6, including Lacombe over Zachary Vaughn (6-3, 6-2) at No. 4. Mason dropped Robert Gittings (6-4, 6-4) and Ruzicka added a win over Camron Cohen (6-4, 6-2) at 5 and 6, respectively. CNU earned the sweep with wins from Reed, Cerny, and Guilford in order, 1-3. Each Captain was stretched to a third set before taking the win.
In the late afternoon bout against Carnegie Mellon, the Captains looked more than comfortable tackling one of the nation's top-ten ranked teams. In doubles, all three CNU tandems were locked in tight matches before the Tartans pulled away for a 2-1 lead. Guilford and Ruzicka picked up the lone win at No. 3, downing Ray Boppana and Nicholas Calzolano (9-8 (2)).
In singles play, the match would come down to the final bout at No. 2, between Cerny and Chaz Downing. After the Captains trailed 4-2 following the first three finishes, a dramatic comeback was staged behind Lacombe and Ruzicka. First, Lacombe pulled CNU back within one with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Robert Levin at No. 4 singles; then, Ruzicka evened the match at 4-4 when he got by Tommy Cheng (6-4, 6-3).
With just one match left, Downing overcame a second set loss to Cerny and pulled away to clinch the match for Carnegie Mellon (6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1).
The Captains conclude the fall portion of the schedule with the two duals, and will return to action on February 17 as they host Methodist University at 2:00 pm.
