SALISBURY, Md. -- In a hard-fought battle with conference rival Salisbury University (16-4, 6-0), the 36th-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team suffered a narrow 5-4 setback on Sunday afternoon. The Captains fell to 10-8 overall and 5-2 in league action after the loss.
The showdown between regionally-ranked opponents pitted the Atlantic South 8th-ranked Captains against the 12th-ranked Sea Gulls in Capital Athletic Conference action. The bout came down to the final singles match as CNU clawed back after falling behind 2-1 in doubles play.
In pairs play, CNU picked up the win at No. 3 as seniors
Nicholas Ruzicka and
William Trang downed Ryan Santmyer and Matthew Ryan, 8-5. In the other two matches, Salisbury edged out the Captains, 8-6, to take the early match lead.
The CNU veterans, Ruzicka and Trang, picked up three-set singles wins for the Captains to go 2-0 on the day. At No. 3, Trang defeated Colt Williamson 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 and at No. 5, Ruzicka dispatched Patrick MacLean 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
CNU also got a straight set win at No. 4 singles with freshman
Ryan Macy defeated Stefan Hein, 6-1, 6-1, but the home team pulled out wins at the remaining singles matches to hold on for a 5-4 team victory.
The Captains took a 1-0 lead, and then tied the match at 2-2 after Macy's win, but Salisbury won in order at 6, 2, and 1 to clinch the win.
The loss wraps up CNU's Capital Athletic Conference regular season at 5-2 and the Captains will be the No. 3 seed in this year's conference tournament, set to begin on Friday, April 26 with the quarterfinals. CNU will face the No. 6 seed in the first round and the winner will advance to play the winning team from the No. 2 vs. No. 7 first round matchup. Match details will be determined at a later date.
