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FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – For just the second time in the half-century old program's history, the Christopher Newport men's tennis team is headed to the NCAA Tournament. The 35^th-ranked Captains ended Mary Washington's 17-year reign as the top team in the Capital Athletic Conference with an epic 5-3 win over the Eagles in Saturday's Capital Athletic Conference Championship, and will return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.
 
Christopher Newport raised the championship plaque for the first time in four years as members of the Capital Athletic Conference, and picked up the third tournament title in the 50-year history of the program (2006 & 2008). CNU earned the USA South Athletic Conference's automatic bid into the postseason tournament in 2008.
 
Playing indoors at the UMW Indoor Courts in Fredericksburg, Va. due to rainfall in the area, the Captains picked up two wins in doubles to tilt the match in their favor. All six matches in singles play were hard-fought, and the Captains would go on to clinch the match with three wins, ending the 17^th-ranked Eagles run as conference champions. It is the first loss for Mary Washington against a conference opponent since 2008, ending a run of 80 straight wins.
 
CNU was playing in the program's third straight CAC title bout, while Mary Washington had played in and won every CAC Championship Match since the tournament's inception in 2006.  Prior to the postseason tournament, the Eagles had won the championship by virtue of the regular season every year since 2000.
 
On Saturday, the Captains picked up the first win of the day with an 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles. Juniors David Reed and Justin Cerny combined for the win over Ryland Byrd and Michael Fleming. Derek Hagino and Matt Miles countered with an 8-6 win for Mary Washington at No. 2 doubles, dropping CNU's Andy Mason and William Trang to even the score at one point apiece. In the final doubles bout of the day, it was the Captains' senior duo of Michael Dodd and Arttu Fiva outlasting Patrick Hughes and Joseph Brown for an 8-6 win to clinch a 2-1 lead headed into singles.
 
Christopher Newport extended the lead to 3-1 with the first win in individual play, as Nicholas Ruzicka downed Mary Washington sophomore Ryland Byrd (6-0, 7-5), but again the Eagles cut the lead to one with the win at No. 5 singles.
 
In the four matches remaining, each team had a pair of first-set victories. CNU took the lead at 2 and 4, while Mary Washington had the edge at 1 and 3. The Eagles got back all square with the win at No. 1, as Miles slipped by Reed in a three-set battle (6-3, 3-6, 6-4). The Captains still had the advantage, however, with the lead in two of the three remaining bouts.

First, the Captains came within one point of winning when Justin Cerny grabbed the straight-set win at No. 2 singles (6-4, 6-4), downing Hughes to put CNU up, 4-1. Then, the Eagles looked to tip things back in their favor with a second set win at No. 3 and a 5-4 lead in the third. That lead forced what would prove to be the match-clinching third set between a pair of freshmen at No. 4. CNU rookie Dominic Lacombe took on Mary Washington freshman Joseph Brown for the CAC Championship.
 
Lacombe had raced out to a win in the first set, but Brown answered with a 6-4 win in the second. The CNU freshman showed no signs of letting up, however, and sprinted out to a 5-1 lead in the deciding set. Needing just one game to clinch the program's first ever CAC Championship, he wasted little time, finishing off Fleming with a 6-2 win. With the match decided, the No. 3 matchup between Mason and Fleming would be left unfinished.
 
The win was the first for CNU over Mary Washington since 2011 and the first under Director of Tennis Eric Christiansen. With the victory, the Captains improve to 14-9 overall while the Eagles fall to 17-7 in defeat.
 
Christopher Newport will now advance to play in the NCAA Tournament with first-, second-, and third-round matches played at a site to be determined from May 12-14. The announcement for against whom and where CNU will play their first round action will be released on NCAA.com on May 8.