ORLANDO, Fla. -- Continuing a successful start to the 2026 spring season, the Captains secured its third nationally-ranked win of the year with a 5-2 decision against No. 22 RPI (1-4) on Thursday afternoon. Christopher Newport improved to 6-1 on the season with the top-25 win on a neutral court in Orlando, Florida. 

With the clinching blow, rookie Nathan Russell captured the victory for Christopher Newport with a thrilling win at No. 1 singles. Taking on Tasmay Shah, Russell outlasted his Engineers opponent in the first set, 7-6, before pulling away for a 6-1 win in the second.

The win was set up by the Captains securing the doubles point with wins in two of the three matches in pairs action. At No. 1, veterans Barrett Foster and Vincent Truong played together against Shah and his partner Tsubasa Okada with the Christopher Newport duo finishing off a narrow 7-5 win. That clinched the doubles point after the teams traded 6-4 victories at two and three. For the Captains, Nesh Kumaresan and Gabe Smith earned their win over Gustave Viennet and Quoc-Uy Vo at No. 2. 

In singles, Russell was joined by wins for Kumaresan at No. 3, Foster at No. 5, and Gabe Smith at No. 6. Kumaresan took down Viennet (6-3, 7-6); Foster earned a win over Debarshi Sen (6-2, 6-1), and; Smith downed Aidan Atri (6-1, 6-1). 

CNU also defeated No. 36 Averett (Feb. 15) and No. 25 Haverford (Feb. 21) already this season. The Captains will face another stiff test on Friday when they take on No. 17 Carnegie Mellon University at 11:00 a.m.