NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Improving to 2-0 on the season, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team captured a 5-2 win against RIT on Friday night while playing at the James River Country Club indoor courts. The Captains secured the doubles point and then clinched the win with four wins in singles play.
In the best out of three format for doubles, the home team picked up two wins in pairs play to get out to a 1-0 lead. CNU earned wins at No. 2 and No. 3 to pick up the pivotal point. First, on the second line, sophomore
Rainer Christiansen and rookie
Nathan Russell paired up for a 6-1 win against Evan Ly and Alec Turcotte. The Captains clinched the doubles point at No. 3 where
Ivan Ceric and
Alex Seretis took down Gabriel Escobar and Luke Weber.
With the early lead, the top four lines got underway in singles action. The match was fairly even with both teams splitting the first set on the top four lines. CNU snagged the second team point when
Nesh Kumaresan finished off his foe, Alexander Sinclair, at No. 4 in a straight-set victory, 6-4, 6-4.
The Tigers countered with a hard-fought win at No. 3 where CNU newcomer
Barrett Foster battled but could not hold off Turcotte in a three-setter. Foster dropped a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 decision and RIT cut the lead to one, 2-1. Momentarily, RIT drew the match even at two points apiece when Yu Tanimoto earned the win at No. 1 over Russell, 6-1, 6-4.
The momentum swung back in favor of the Captains with a thrilling win at No. 2, however, where senior
Vincent Truong bounced back from an opening set loss to secure a 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 win against Evan Ly. With a 3-2 lead, the final two matches started as
Gabe Smith and
Rainer Christiansen took the court for No. 5 and 6, respectively. Both finished off their opponents to help CNU pull away for the 5-2 win. Smith downed Trent Sauer (6-1, 6-1) and Christiansen took care of Nikko Tuxford (7-5, 6-1).
Christiansen was the lone CNU player with two wins on the day, but the well-balanced performance provided the Captains a second straight win to start the season.
RIT will take on Averett University in a neutral site matchup on Saturday before the host Captains welcome Averett for a Sunday afternoon tilt at the James River CC.
