Men's Tennis | 4/6/2022 9:46:00 PM

By Marlene Estenssoro Pineda

DURHAM – North Carolina A&T men's tennis completed one of its best regular seasons in program history with a 5-2 win over N.C. Central Wednesday afternoon at the Dr. James W. Youth Tennis Center.

The Aggies end the regular season with an 11-9 record. It is the most wins for men's tennis since the program returned in 2015. 

A&T swept all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. The N0. 1 A&T duo of junior Esteban Lopez and senior Vasil Ivanov beat Miles Clark and Amit Baran 6-4.  Lopez and Ivanov end the regular season with an 11-9 record. 

A&T freshmen Ethan Baly and Ian Pedersen followed with a 6-3 win over Shaka Cristelloti and LaQuon at No. 3 doubles. Finally, freshmen Eder Blanco and Jorge Perez completed the sweep with a 6-3 win over Oliver Saarinen and Sebastian Pino at No. 3 doubles. 

Ivanov won 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) in singles competition over Pino. It was Ivanov's eighth straight win as he finished the regular season with a 14-5 mark. In addition, Ivanov recorded his 31st career win. 

Blanco also won his eighth straight after defeating Baran 6-1, 6-2. Blanco is 13-5 in his freshman campaign. 

The Aggies other two wins came at No. 5 and No. 6 singles. At No. 5, Perez defeated Cristelloti in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Pedersen also got a straight-sets win, 6-3, 6-1, over Gilchrist. Perez is one of four Aggies with a winning record as he improved to 11-8. Pedersen now stands at 8-11. 

At No. 1 singles, Lopez had a tough match against Clark. Clark defeated Lopez 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 as Lopez dropped to 13-5 on the season. Baly's loss to Saarinen, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), was the Aggies second loss on the day. 

The Aggies will turn their attention to the Big South Conference Men's Tennis Championship Tournament, April 14-16. A&T will play its first tournament match at the higher seed.