LEXINGTON, Va. -- Taking on one of the top teams in Division III on a neutral court Saturday, the 29th-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team was down to its final swings before rookie Rainer Christiansen rallied for a thrilling come-from-behind win in a third-set tiebreaker to clinch a decisive win for the Captains against No. 15 Sewanee, 4-3. 

Christopher Newport bounced back from its first loss of the season on Friday to No. 27 Washington and Lee by returning to form on Saturday against Sewanee. 

After dropping the doubles point to the Tigers, the Captains fell behind 2-1 with a loss on the top line of singles. Rebounding, Edvard Porsmyr Hansen earned a hard-fought win at No. 4 against Henry Hyden (7-5, 6-4) to get Christopher Newport on the board. CNU then evened the score when Ryan Monroe captured a huge win at No. 2 against Gil Weston (2-6, 6-4, 6-3). 

Sewanee teetered back into the lead with a win at No. 3, but rookie Gabe Smith made it 3-3 with a narrow win at No. 5 against Max Verellan. Smith won the first set, dropped the second, and then edged out Verellen in a third-set tiebreaker that stretched into extra points (6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4)). 

All that set up the dramatic finish from Christiansen, another rookie in the CNU starting lineup. Playing at No. 6, the CNU freshman was facing William Lewis for Sewanee, who turned in a 6-4 win in the opening set. Christiansen cruised to a 6-2 win in the second set, but the duo went back-and-forth throughout the third. With the match deadlocked at six-games apiece, the tiebreaker saw Lewis open up a 5-2 lead. Unfazed, Christiansen locked in and went on a tear to flip the score, clinching the match for CNU with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) win. 

Having opened the season with a 5-1 record, the Captains are now off until next Sunday, March 2 when they will travel to Southern California to take on 25th-ranked Pomona-Pitzer in the first of three matches on the team's annual spring break trip to the West Coast. CNU will also take on No. 32 Chapman (March 4) and No. 19 Redlands (March 6).