NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Playing on the Eyre Courts on a cool but sunny day in Newport News, the 23rd-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team suffered its first home loss of the season with a 5-2 decision to No. 38 Grinnell College (8-3). The Captains fall to 7-3 overall this season and are now 5-1 at home. 

Nesh Kumaresan and Gabe Smith earned victories for CNU on Sunday while Rainer Christiansen and Alex Seretis helped the Captains avoid a doubles sweep with a win at No. 3. 

In doubles play, Christiansen and Seretis downed Garvin Murray and Gervase Ngo from Grinnell in a 6-4 final. The other two matches ended shortly after in favor of the Pioneers and the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the match. 

Moving into singles, the top line featured a heavyweight matchup between regionally-ranked senior Lucas Willett for Grinnell and the Captains upstart rookie star Nathan Russell. Willett held off the young foe for a 7-5 win in the first set, but the Captains freshman rebounded with a dominant 6-2 win in the second set to force a decisive third. The two competitors went back and forth in the third before Willett escaped with a 7-6 (7-1) win over Russell. 

That would clinch the match for Grinnell, but the Captains kept battling on the other courts with Kumaresan picking up a three-set victory at No. 3 against Henry Park, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-0, and Smith also capturing a three-set win at No. 6 against Aman Kothari, 4-6, 6-5, 6-4. 

Barrett Foster and Christiansen also pushed their Grinnell counterparts to a third set but the match finished out in favor of the Pioneers, 5-2. 

CNU will return to action in Fredericksburg, Va. for a neutral site matchup against Kenyon College on Saturday, March 21 at 2:00 p.m.