By Marlene Estenssoro Pineda

EAST GREENSBORO - North Carolina A&T earned its first-ever men's tennis Big South Conference win as they defeated the Hampton Pirates 6-1, Sunday afternoon at the Dudley High School Tennis Court. 

A&T is 8-6 overall and 1-3 in conference play. 

The Aggies won the doubles point. A&T junior Esteban Lopez and senior Vasil Ivanov won 6-4 against Ange-Kevin Koua and Fayzullokhon Mavlyudov. Then, the freshmen duo of Jorge Perez and Eder Blanco defeated Jeremiah Williams and Daud Grantt-Bey, 6-1. 

A&T's only doubles loss came at No. 3 as freshmen Ian Pedersen and Ethan Baly lost to Cliff Dwyer and Donte Armbrister, 6-3. 

In singles competition, Lopez defeated Koua 6-0, 6-4 at No.1. Lopez improved to 10-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play for the season. He is one win away from tying Ivanov's 11 wins in 2019. 

Ivanov picked up another career victory as he defeated Duyer, 6-1, 6-2. Ivanov improved to 9-5 on the season and 3-1 against Big South competition. He has a career record of 26-25, and he is 9-1 against conference competition. 

Perez clinched the historic win for A&T. He defeated Gantt-Bey 6-0, 6-1 for the Aggies fourth point. However, Hampton (2-10, 0-6 Big South) did get on the board with a win at No.4 singles as Armbrister defeated Baly 7-5, 6-3. 

At Pedersen won 6-3, 6-2 against Williams, and Blanco defeated Mavlyud 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3. 

The Aggies will be back in action on Wednesday at 2 p.m., at Dudley, where they will play Campbell University in Big South competition.