FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team is poised to defend its conference championship this weekend as the second-seeded Captains (11-7) will take on #3-seed Salisbury University in the semifinal round of the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship on Friday. The semifinals will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Friday at the University of Mary Washington with both teams advancing to Saturday for the championship or third place match.
The Captains, ranked No. 25 in the most recent ITA national rankings, enter the 2026 C2C Championships looking for back-to-back wins against Salisbury after closing out the regular season against the Sea Gulls with a 6-1 win last weekend. After competing against the Sea Gulls on Friday at 10:00 a.m., the winning team will face the victor between top-seeded Mary Washington and #4-seed UC Santa Cruz on Saturday. The match times for Saturday are also set for 10:00 a.m.
In dual play this year, the Captains have won 66 percent of their doubles matches with a 35-18 overall record. Nine wins have come at No. 1 while the No. 2 and 3 tandems have each won 13 matches in head-to-head competition this Spring.
Gabe Smith has an impressive 12-3 overall record at No. 2 with two partners while
Rainer Christiansen and
Nathan Russell have led the way at No. 3 with an 11-2 mark.
In singles play, the Captains have shuffled the lineup throughout the season while factoring in the impact of injuries at the top of the lineup. Rookie
Nathan Russell has seven wins at No. 1 and 2 this season while senior
Vincent Truong has added five.
Nesh Kumaresan, who has eight doubles wins with Smith, was 8-2 in singles action this Spring before suffering an ill-timed injury. Newcomer
Barrett Foster has nine singles wins over five positions while Christiansen and Smith have each led the way with 11 wins across five lines.
Live stats and a live video webcast will be available for all the action courtesy of the University of Mary Washington. Links to both can be found on the tennis schedule at CNUsports.com.
