NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport men's tennis team will open the 2022 spring season on Saturday at the James River CC against Washington & Lee University at 2:00 p.m. The two teams were both ranked in the top-30 of the final 2021 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Rankings and will be open the first full spring season since 2019 against eachother. 

Christopher Newport was pegged No. 25 in and Washington & Lee No. 29 in the final ITA rankings of 2021. The Captains feature the 19th-ranked singles player in the Atlantic South Region in Alec Strause, released earlier this Fall. 

Strause advanced to the Round of 16 at the 2021 ITA Regional Championships with a pair of wins tied teammate Dawson Driscoll for the most singles victories in the Fall portion of the season. Both finished 5-4 with wins against Division I competition. 

On the doubles side, Driscoll paired with Mason Kolls for a team-high three victories while Strause matched up with Ryan Macy to collect three wins also. 

W&L comes into the dual match having only appeared in one tournament this fall as they competed in the ITA Regional as well. First-year Eli Hirshberg and junior Evan Brady each advanced to the Round of 16 in the championship singles draw before falling on day two of the event. 

Christopher Newport won the matchup between the two teams in the 2020-21 season, 6-3, and have picked up victories against the Generals in two of the last three outings. 

Scored and a full recap will be available on CNUsports.com following the match.