LEXINGTON, Va. -- With the nationally-ranked showdown even at three points apiece, rookie Gabe Smith battled until the very end at Washington and Lee on Friday evening, but the host Generals withstood a late barrage to capture the victory at home, 4-3. The Captains rallied with three singles wins to set up a thrilling finish from the freshman. 

CNU got victories at 2, 3, and 4 to draw even with the host and 27th-ranked Washington and Lee squad after dropping the doubles point and matches at 1 and 5. Smith was taking on Sanjheev Rao, a sophomore out of Tigard, Oregon at No. 6 who earned first team All-Conference honors a year ago. 

Smith won a pair of deuce points to make it 5-5 in the third set and saved four match points throughout to continue to stretch Rao to the limit. In the end, the W&L second-year outlasted the CNU freshman by a final score of 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (2), but not without a valiant effort. 

Prior to the finish, Ryan Monroe earned a win at No. 2 against James Kurani in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 final to come from behind for the team point. Nesh Kumaresan rebounded from a second-set loss to defeat Will Kistler at No. 3 in a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 matchup. Finally, Ashton Legum downed Eli Hirshberg at No. 4 in straight sets, albeit more hard-fought battles, with a 6-2, 7-6 (7) finish. 

All nine bouts were back-and-forth with the three doubles pairing finishing in 6-4 finals. Edvard Porsmyr Hansen and Smith earned the lone win for CNU at No. 3 but Washington and Lee snagged the point. In singles, Porsmyr Hansen extended his match to a second set tiebreak and Vincent Truong earned four games from nationally-ranked Evan Erb on the top line. 

The Captains will return to action on Saturday against 15th-ranked Sewanee at 11:00 a.m. The match will be played on a neutral court in Lexington, Va. at the Duchoissois Tennis Center