ROCKY MOUNT, NC – The North Carolina A&T men's tennis inches closer to its biggest test of the season, the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Men's Tennis Tournament Championship, April 27-29, at William & Mary's Mackesy Tennis Center at the Millie West Courts in Williamsburg, Va. But the Aggies have a few more quizzes to take before they get there. One of those came on Tuesday at North Carolina Wesleyan.
The Aggies defeated the Battling Bishops 6-1 at the North Carolina Wesleyan Tennis Courts to improve to 15-1 on the season. The Bishops dropped to 14-10 on the season, even though they did get a win on Tuesday by beating Methodist College.
A&T started the afternoon with the former CAA men's doubles team of the week earning a win at No. 3 doubles as Ian Pedersen and Mathieu Dussaubat defeated Deigo Segovia and Augusto Roca 6-2. The Pedersen/Dussaubat tandem is 7-3 on the season and holds the team's best winning percentage of doubles teams who have played five or more matches together.
Alex Martinez and Eder Blanco clinched the doubles point for the Aggies with a 6-3 win over John Falke and Sean Keane. Martinez and Blanco have the most wins of any A&T duo, improving to 9-6 after Tuesday's victory. However, the Aggies did have a loss in doubles as their No. 1 team, Esteban Lopez and Vasil Ivanov, endured a 6-4 defeat at the hands of Albert Sitwell and Luca Knese.
Ivanov continued his massive winning streak once singles play began. He beat Roca 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles to improve to 13-1 on the season. Ivanov has won 12 straight while recording his 46th career singles victory. It leaves him four wins shy of 50 for his career, with two regular season matches and the tournament remaining.
How impressive has Ivanov been over the past two seasons? He ended last season on a nine-match winning streak; therefore, Ivanov has won 22 of his last 23 singles contests.
Lopez, another successful A&T experienced player, gave the Aggies a 3-0 lead when he defeated Falke 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. Lopez, a two-time CAA men's tennis player of the week, improved to 11-4. He also improved to 34-21 for his career. A&T clinched the win when Blanco defeated Knese 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 singles. Blanco improved to 13-2 in 2023. He has 27 career wins before his junior season.
Martinez made it 5-0 with his 6-0, 7-6 win over Keane at No. 4 doubles. But the Bishops got on the board with a win at No. 6 singles. Ethan Baly sustained his first loss of the season, losing to Valentin Morelli 6-4, 6-3. Pedersen helped the Aggies finish strong with a 2-6, 7-5, 10-6 win at No. 5 singles. Pedersen leads the team in wins as he improved to 14-2.
Before the Aggies big test of the CAA tournament, the Aggies will get a significant pre-test on Friday, April 21, at 3 p.m., when they face the Elon Phoenix at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Courts in Elon, N.C. The Phoenix played for the CAA championship a year ago.
