FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Playing on a neutral court at the University of Mary Washington, the Christopher Newport men's tennis team dropped a 7-0 decision to No. 22 Sewanee (3-1) on Sunday afternoon to suffer the first loss of the season. The setback snapped a five-match win streak for the Captains to start the 2026 campaign as Christopher Newport is now 5-1 overall.
The top-25 showdown was far closer than the final score indicates as CNU captured one doubles win and stretched three of the matches at singles into extra time.
Gabe Smith took on nationally-ranked Ben Lammert at No. 4 and battled to the final swing. Rookie
Nathan Russell went to a tiebreaker in both sets at No. 1 before dropping his third set by the slimmest of margins.
Across the board, the Captains were not overmatched against the University of the South, which improved to 3-1 overall. The Tigers captured the doubles point, 2-1, after CNU secured the lone Captains win at No. 2.
Nesh Kumaresan paired with Smith to take on Lammert and Drew Rukavina for a 6-3 win. Sewanee picked up the win at No. 3, hinging the doubles point at No. 1 where fans were treated to a back-and-forth battle.
Veterans
Barrett Foster and
Vincent Truong took on Andre-Remi Jakobi and Samuel Schroerlucke on the top line. The Captains fell behind 3-1 before rallying for three straight games to take a 4-3 lead in the neutral site battle. The Tigers knotted things up at four games apiece and the teams traded points until it was 6-6. In the tiebreaker, Foster and Truong fell behind early again, 3-1 and 5-2, but stormed back to pull within one, 6-5, before the Sewanee eked out the close victory, 7-6 (5), to clinch the doubles point.
Moving into singles play, the tightly-matched bout continued. At No. 1, Russell faced Jakobi and traded thrilling sets before dropping a 10-8 decision in the tiebreaker. The CNU player fell by a final score of 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (10-8). At No. 4, Smith won the second set against the nationally-ranked opponent before dropping a 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 final.
Rainer Christian also was stretched to a third set in his match at No. 5. Taking on Lucas Wrigley, Christiansen raced by his opponent for a 6-1 win in the first set but Wrigley countered with a 6-2 win in the second. Playing a full third set before the match was clinched, the two battled to a 6-6 draw, forcing another tiebreaker. The Tigers prevailed again, earning a 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win.
The Captains will now make a Spring Break trip to Orlando, Florida from March 2-6 with three matches on the docket. CNU will take on Allegheny College on Monday, March 2 at 11:00 a.m. followed by matchups with RPI on Thursday, March 5, and Carnegie Mellon on Friday, March 6.
