Men's Tennis | 3/14/2023 9:08:00 PM
Box Score GREENSBORO – Sophomore Ian Pedersen remained undefeated in singles and doubles play, sophomore Eder Blanco remained undefeated in singles play and the North Carolina A&T men's team stayed undefeated as they defeated Morgan State 5-2 Tuesday afternoon at the Piedmont Indoor Center.
The Aggies are 4-0 on the season and have won six out of their last seven matches dating back to last season. Pedersen and freshman Mathieu Dussaubat, the reigning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) men's doubles team of the week, continued their winning ways with a 6-4 victory over Mikeal Carpenter and Bertin Karenzi at No. 3 doubles.
A&T claimed the doubles point when freshman Alex Martinez and Blanco defeated Rhajzon Rankins and Niles Rachal 6-2 at No. 2 doubles. The duo improved to 2-1 on the season as A&T took a 1-0 lead. Graduate Vasil Ivanov and senior Esteban Lopez did not finish No. 1 doubles because the Aggies clinched the doubles point with the No. 2 doubles win.
Ivanov and Lopez held the serve while trailing Sebastian Lopez and Makkijha Brown 5-4 when the match ended. A consequence of the match's termination is there will be no bragging rights in the Lopez household as Esteban Lopez faced his brother Sebastian in the No. 1 doubles matchup.
After getting the Aggies rolling in doubles play, Pedersen jump-started his team in singles play with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Karenzi at No. 5 singles. Pedersen improved to 4-0 on the season in singles play. Coupled with his doubles win on Tuesday, Pedersen could not have asked for a better start to the 2023 season. He is 2-0 with Dussaubat. He also has a doubles win with sophomore Ethan Baly to improve to 3-0 in doubles play this season.
"Overall, I played a good match," said Pedersen about his singles competition. "I was playing aggressively and without making many mistakes. I didn't feel nervous at the beginning, so I could play my game from the start to the end. In doubles, we played a good match overall. At first, I made some mistakes, but I was playing better toward the end. Matthieu also played well by being on top of the net and finishing points."
Dussaubat lost his No. 6 singles match to Brown 7-5, 7-5, but Martinez kept the Aggies in control by defeating Rankins 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 singles. Martinez broke Rankins' serve early in the first set before Rankins returned the favor early in the second. But Martinez broke Rankins' serve twice; the latter break gave him a 5-4 lead, leading to his 6-4 win.
"I'm happy I was able to come back to play a match like this after my tough loss the last time," said Martinez referring to his three-set loss at Queens University of Charlotte on March 8. "I felt really good out there today. "
Blanco clinched the win for A&T with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Lopez at No. 2 singles. The Aggies and the Bears split the last two singles matches. Ivanov defeated Rachal 7-6, 6-4 at No. 4 singles for his 35th career win. Lopez lost at No. 1 singles Carpenter 5-7, 7-6, 10-7.
"I am happy for the win because (Lopez) was a challenging player to play against. But I kept calm and played aggressively and waited for the short ball to go to the net. It was a fun match because I played Esteban's brother Sebastian."
The Aggies return to action Thursday, March 16, when they face Methodist at 2 p.m., from the Dudley High School Tennis Courts.
