GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T men's tennis is off to its best start in modern history after defeating Norfolk State Sunday afternoon 6-1 to improve to 6-0 on the season. Not only are the Aggies undefeated for the first time this late in the season, but they have also been imposing over their last two matches. 

"This was a great win for everybody," said freshman Alex Martinez. "The energy and the level were high today." 

Martinez teamed with sophomore Eder Blanco at No. 2 doubles. The duo defeated Ibrahim Abbas and Sadiq Hinton 6-0. The Matinez/Blanco duo improved to 4-1 on the season. "We put the match on a rhythm they couldn't hang with and got it done like we had to," said Martinez. 

After Martinez and Blanco easily won, the Spartans evened the double series as Frederico Rebecchini and Adam Kaczmarek defeated A&T Aggies Esteban Lopez and Vasil Ivanov 6-4. But the outstanding A&T doubles team of Ian Pedersen and Mathieu Dussaubat improved to 4-0 on the season to secure the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Boris Lunin and Hugo Massoni Lena 6-3 at No. 3 doubles. 

No. 4 and No. 5 singles ended in straight-set shutouts as Martinez won 6-0, 6-0 and Pedersen won 6-0, 6-0. Martinez is 5-1 on the season, and Pedersen improved to 6-0. 

"I had a lot of forehand winners," said Martinez about his singles match. "He had a weaker backhand, so I took advantage of it by opening the point through the backhand and looking for the short ball. My serve and forehand were on point."

Sophomore Ethan Baly returned to the lineup at No. 6 singles and improved to 2-0 on the season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Hinton. Blanco, a staple in the Aggies singles lineup, won at No. 2 singles over Kaczmarek 6-3, 6-0. In the first set, Blanco broke Kaczmarek's serve to take a 4-3 lead. Kaczmarek did not win a game from that point forward. 

"I stayed aggressive by going to the net," said Blanco. "My opponent was pretty aggressive, but not more than me. I put the brakes on him and stayed solid and more aggressive. He just stopped, and I completely went through him." 

Ivanov won at No. 3 singles to improve to 36-26 in his career. He defeated Lena 7-5, 6-0. A&T 's only loss came at No. 1 singles as Lopez lost to Rebecchini 7-5, 7-6 (3-1). The Aggies will look for a 7-0 start on Tuesday, March 21, when they face former Big South Conference foe Longwood at the Dudley High School Tennis Courts at 2 p.m.