GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T won its first men's tennis match of the season with a 7-0 victory over Shaw University Sunday at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
Three Aggies recorded their first career collegiate wins in the process as freshmen Jorge Perez, Ian Pedersen and Ethan Baly were winners on Sunday. Sunday's victory also marked the first for Aggies first-year head coach Ansel Dejon Bivens.
"Anytime you are in charge with turning around a program, rebuilding a program, it's super important to finally get a win under the belt, not just for the program but for the players' belief going forward," Bivens said. "They put in the hard work, and it's evident. They deserve to win, and that's what comes when you work hard every day. It's more important for them as a young team to get the win early. They would have confidence going forward during the rest of the season."
Both teams won a doubles match. The Aggies win came after freshman Eder Blanco and Perez defeated Guillermo Franco and Romain Hennebelle 6-4 at No. 2 doubles.
The Bears evened things when their duo of Aakarshit Mahajan and Martin Munoz defeated junior Esteban Lopez and senior Vasil Ivanov 7-6 (2) at No. 1.
But the Aggies took the point with a win at No. 3. Baly and Pedersen beat P. Chavoz and Panashe Garah, 7-6, (7-5). Chavoz and Garah took a 6-5 lead in the match, but Baly and Pedersen battled back to win the next point to tie the set at 6.
Baly and Pedersen took a 2-0 lead in the tiebreaker before the Shaw duo tied the score a 2. Then, Baly and Pedersen surged by scoring three straight points before Chavoz and Garah rallied to tie the set at 5. However, the momentum swing once again went in A&T's favor as Baly and Pedersen scored the next two points to win the set 7-6 thanks to the 7-5 tiebreaker win.
In singles play, A&T increased the lead to 2-0 after Perez defeated Garah 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4. Then, Baly's 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 6 against Franco gave A&T a 3-0 lead. "Getting my first win means a lot," Baly said. "The first of many, hopefully. It was a great feeling going out there and winning that last point."
The Aggies clinched after Blanco defeated Munoz 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 and extended the lead to 5-0 after Lopez defeated Mahajan 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1.
A&T won the final two matches after Ivanov defeated Hennebelle 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Pedersen defeated Chavoz 6-3, 6-3 at No. 5. Pedersen trailed 2-1 in the second set before rallying to win.
