SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- The 29th-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team opened the 2024 NCAA Division III Championships with a dominant victory over Baruch College, 5-0, to advance to the second round on Saturday afternoon. The Captains improved to 4-0 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and 14-7 overall this season with the win against the Bearcats. 

Leaning on stout doubles play to race out to a 3-0 lead, the Captains then picked up wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles to clinch the team victory. Conference Player of the Year Vincent Truong and his doubles partner, Nesh Kumaresan, each earned wins in both disciplines to lead the way for CNU. 

The first win of the match came at No. 3 doubles where Alex Seretis and Ahun Vodela paired up for a speedy 8-1 win against Jordan Hernandez and Steven Margolis. Not far behind, Edvard Porsmyr Hansen and Ashton Legum gave the Captains a 2-0 lead with an 8-2 victory at No. 2 against Tuna Nergizoglu and George Arteaga. 

The win at No. 1 for Truong and Kumaresan came by an 8-3 final score against Juan Paredes and Nicholas Santiago. The duo captured their 11th win of the season at No. 1 doubles and 18th win overall. Porsmyr Hansen and Legum also earned their team-leading 19th win as a partnership, tying for the third most by a pair in program history for a single season. 

In singles action, Kumaresan raced by Santiago for a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 3 and then Truong captured the match-clinching win at No. 1 against Nergizoglu in a 6-3, 6-0 final. 

The Captains will now advance to face No. 6 Tufts University in the NCAA Championships Second Round at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats will be available online at the tournament website by clicking here.