FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport men's tennis team made quick work of third-seeded Salisbury University (9-8) on Friday morning to capture a 4-0 win and advance to the 2026 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship Match. The Captains improved to 12-7 overall this season with the win in the conference semifinals and will face top-seeded host Mary Washington at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.
Christopher Newport earned the right to defend its 2025 conference crown and advances to the C2C Championship for the third year in a row and the fourth time in the last five years.
The Captains earned the doubles point first, capturing wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to advance to singles with a 1-0 lead.
Barrett Foster and
Vincent Truong outlasted Aron Bursztyn and Gurv Suri, 7-5, on the top line for the decisive doubles victory. Earlier,
Rainer Christiansen and
Nathan Russell earned a 6-3 win over Maas Jacobs and Chase Catullo to put the Captains in position.
In singles play, the Captains picked up a pair of smooth victories and No. 4 and No. 6 to put the team within one point of clinching. Rookie
Ivan Ceric disposed of Catullo at No. 6 with a 6-3, 6-1 win while Christiansen capped a two-win day with a seamless victory at No. 4 over Jacobs, 6-0, 6-1.
The clinching point came at No. 2 where freshman
Nathan Russell wrapped up his first postseason singles match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nicholas O'Dea. The remaining singles bouts were abandoned after Christopher Newport clinched the team victory and advanced to the title bout.
Mary Washington also won, 4-0, against #4-seed UC Santa Cruz. All four teams will return to the courts on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. with the title match and third-place bout being played simultaneously.
