EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T maintained its flawless record by winning convincingly over its archrival rival North Carolina Central University (NCCU), 7-0 in non-conference men's tennis action Saturday afternoon at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
A&T beat NCCU for the third straight season and improved to 11-0, the program's best start to a season in history. The Eagles have lost two out of their last three to drop to 5-14 on the season.
The Aggies only lost one match Saturday afternoon, a 6-3 loss at No. 1 doubles by Esteban Lopez and Vasil Ivanov to the NCCU duo of Sebastian Pino and Oliver Saarinen. But during that match, the Aggies had already started to assert control and dominance in the contest. The other two doubles contests ended without the Eagles winning a game, leading the Aggies to win the doubles point.
A&T No. 2 doubles duo Eder Blanco and Alex Martinez won 6-0 over Shaka Cristelloti and Liam Murtaugh. Saturday's win helped Blanco and Martinez bounce back from a Thursday loss to Delaware. The tandem improved to 6-4 on the season.
"We took care of business very well today," said Martinez. "We started strong in the doubles and carried it through the singles. It's a good win for Eder and me after the last couple of matches. We needed this one, especially with this domination. We didn't let them breathe with our serve, returns and volleys."
The No. 2 doubles win was complemented by Ian Pedersen and Mathieu Dussaubat beating LaQuon Gilchrist and Facundo Olmedo 6-0 at No. 3 doubles. Pedersen and Mathieu, the former Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) men's doubles team of the week, improved to 6-1.
After winning in doubles, Dussaubat and Pedersen made quick work of their respective opponents in singles play. Pedersen, whose 11-match singles winning streak ended on Thursday with a loss, returned to his winning ways by blanking Neiman Sneed 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles.
Pedersen moved to 10-1 on the season. Meanwhile, Dussaubant saw his record go to 7-3 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Olmedo.
"We played well in doubles, taking the opportunities and being on top of the net," said Dussaubat about his partnership with Pedersen. "In singles, I came off a tough loss, so I wanted to see at what level I was capable of playing today, and I think I did pretty well. "
A&T's No. 1 singles player Esteban Lopez remained on fire by winning his fifth straight match with his 6-2, 6-2 win over Pino. Lopez moved to 8-3 on the season. Martinez matched Pedersen for the Aggies' best singles record at 10-1, defeating Naresh Bharathy 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.
There were no three-set matches on Saturday, but some competitive matches did emerge. Ivanov won his 42nd career singles match with a 7-6, 7-6 win over Kareem Abdul Hakim. Ivanov improved to 9-1 on the season.
Saarinen took Blanco to a tiebreaker in the first set at No. 2 singles before losing 7-6. Blanco breezed past Saarinen in the second set to win 6-0.
"My opponent had a really strong serve, and it was tough to return," said Blanco. "I was serving well, so I just kept calm and waited for my moment and an opportunity. In the second set, he went down with the serve, and I went up in terms of attitude. I kept being aggressive and just did my thing and got off the court."
The Aggies will return to the court on Wednesday when they travel to Bluefield, WVa., to face Bluefield State at 1 p.m.
