Box Score vs. No. 28 Swarthmore
Box Score vs. Haverford

SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- On the first day of the spring 2017 season, the Christopher Newport men's tennis team came away a pair of thrilling victories in the Swarthmore Invite, downing the host and 28th-ranked Garnet, 5-4, before coming from behind to win the final point against Haverford College, 5-4, as well. The Captains improved to 3-1 on the season with the two wins, and will return to action on Sunday to round out the three-match weekend against No. 24 Whitman College. 

Both matches were clinched by freshmen on Saturday, as Dominic Lacombe captured the winning point against Swarthmore College before Andy Mason secured the final point against Haverford. 

"This is an amazing way to start the season," said Director of Tennis Eric Christiansen. "Our guys were tested in two highly competitive matches and were able to rise to the occasion in both. It's also very exciting to see our freshmen embracing the environment and stepping up."

The Captains got started early, taking on Swarthmore College at 8:00 am on Saturday. CNU raced out to a big lead, sweeping the doubles points to take a 3-0 advantage into singles play. The hosts, however, responded to cut the lead to just one with the first two points in singles. With the score 3-2 in favor of the Captains, junior David Reed captured a huge win at No. 1, defeating nationally-ranked Mark Fallati (7-5, 5-7, 6-2), setting up Lacombe's clinching win at No. 4. 

In the afternoon matchup against Haverford, the Captains again carried an edge into singles play by winning at the top two lines to take a 2-1 lead. Then, in singles play, Haverford captured wins at 1, 4, and 5, while Lacombe and Arttu Fiva won at 3 and 6 respectively. The match would come down to the No. 2 singles bout, where Mason suffered a first set loss to Dais Nakayama, 6-3. He battled back for a 6-2 win in the second, and then clinched the win with a 7-5 victory in the third. 

William Trang and Mason won both of their matches in doubles action, capturing wins at No. 2 against Swarthmore and No. 1 versus Haverford. Junior Justin Cerny also had a pair of doubles wins, pairing with Reed against Swarthmore at No. 1, and then with Nicholas Ruzicka at No. 2 against the Fords. 

In singles action, four different Captains secured wins. Reed's victory over 29th-ranked Mark Fallati is the second win over a ranked opponent during his career. Last season, Reed took down 9th-ranked Mike Buxbaum in three sets in a match against nationally-ranked Johns Hopkins. 

CNU will return to the courts at 11:00 am on Sunday, facing off against their second nationally-ranked opponent of the weekend when they take on 24th-ranked Whitman College.