Photo Gallery

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – In a match that came down to the wire, the 26^th-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team captured the 2025 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship with a thrilling 4-2 win over top-seeded Mary Washington (15-10) on Sunday afternoon. Playing at the indoor courts at the James River Country Club, the Captains earned the team's second title since joining the league in 2013-14.
 
CNU's first title under the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference banner is the 13^th in program history and the first since the Captains lifted the trophy in 2017 as members of the Capital Athletic Conference. CNU won 11 conference crowns in the USA South Athletic Conference, formerly known as the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 
On Sunday, the Captains ended the Eagles three-year run as conference champions. CNU secured the doubles point in dramatic form before a tightly-contested matchup unraveled in singles play. The Captains won three of the five finished matches to seal the title.
 
Christopher Newport took the first doubles match when Nesh Kumaresan and Ahun Vodela paired up for a 6-4 win at No. 3 against Evan Fisher and Albert Vladimirskiy. Despite taking the early lead, the doubles point was still in jeopardy with both matches at No. 1 and No. 2 going to a tiebreaker. Playing nearly point-for-point simultaneously, it was a race to the finish between the four tandems.
 
At No. 2 doubles, Edvard Porsmyr Hansen and Gabe Smith were taking on William Fromherz and Matt Scott from Mary Washington. The decisive point came at No. 1, however, as Ashton Legum and Vincent Truong outlasted their foes, Trevor Rein and Jack Riordan. Despite being stretched to the breaker, Legum and Truong showcased their resiliency by holding off the Eagles pairing in extra points. Legum painted the sideline with a mid-air volley to capture an 8-6 win in the breaker for a 7-6 (8-6) victory and the doubles point.
 
In singles play, the Captains doubled the lead with a quick win on the top line where Vincent Truong rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win over regionally-ranked Trevor Rein. Truong snagged his 15^th career win at No. 1 and moved up to 12^th on the all-time list at CNU.
 
Making sure the match would not be lopsided, the Eagles rallied for wins at No. 2 and No. 3 to even the match at two points apiece. Both went three sets, as Nesh Kumaresan suffered a tough loss at No. 2 to Brock Ladehoff (6-3, 1-6, 6-1) and Ryan Monroe had an identical score at No. 3 against Evan Fisher.
 
The momentum shifted back in favor of the Captains in a dramatic bout at No. 4 between Porsmyr Hansen and Ryan King. The CNU veteran made sure he recorded a win in his final singles match at home with a thrilling win over King. Giving the Captains a 3-2 lead and pushing Christopher Newport within one of clinching the championship, Porsmyr Hansen was forced to the brink in both sets but pulled out an impressive 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-3) win. With the ball in his hand and match point, the Norwegian right-handed star served an ace to seal his match. His 62^nd career win in singles are the most by a Captain since 2012 when Eric Shulman set the program record with 86 victories.
 
As both teams lined up to watch the final two singles matches play out, the Captains needed just one to clinch the first conference title since 2017. Ashton Legum, who got started before Gabe Smith at No. 6, dropped his first set to Jack Riordan, 6-2, but quickly rebounded with a dominant 6-0 win in the second set. Smith trailed his opponent, Albert Vladimirskiy, 4-0, in the first set but rebounded to win four of the next five games.
 
Meanwhile, with a set apiece, Legum and Riordan were locked in another heated battle for the third set. The CNU senior snuck in a beautiful drop shot winner but Riordan followed with a short spinner to the left. The two went back-and-forth and Legum carried a 3-2 edge into the sixth game; a long shot deep of the end line clinched a pivotal break for the senior and a 4-2 lead. With the serve, Legum forced a shot into the net to take the game and put CNU one game away from the title, up 5-2 in the third set.
 
Taking on the heavy serve from the 6-5 Mary Washington sophomore, Legum dropped the next set and Riordan still had life trailing 5-3. With Legum back on the line, however, he utilized a nifty lob over the top of his towering opponent to take a 15-love lead. A long return was followed by a play into the net and Legum had the serve for match point. Riordan staved off the first, but going left to right on his second match point serve, the crafty senior got the bounce of his life when a spinner slapped off the top of the tape and ricocheted just over the racquet for the winner.

Following the tournament, Legum was named the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship MVP while Porsmyr Hansen and Truong each also secureed All-Tournament honors. 
 
Christopher Newport improved to 13-8 overall this season and snapped a four-match losing streak to the Eagles.Paired with the CNU women's tennis team capturing the 2025 conference crown, it marks the first time since 2006 that both tennis teams raised the league championship trophy in the same season. 
 
The Captains, who advanced to the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship with an at-large berth in 2024, will have to await the decision of the championship committee to see if they have done enough to warrant selection into this year's postseason event. The selection show will be streamed live at NCAA.com on Monday, May 5 at 12:30 p.m.