GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T men's tennis earned its third straight shutout win of the season on Thursday with a 7-0 win over King University at Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center. Freshman Said Akbarov highlighted A&T's dominance on Thursday. 

He started the afternoon by teaming with junior Ethan Baly to defeat King's Mat Vieira and Tyler Meade 6-2 at No. 3 doubles. Akbarov later stepped into singles competition and had a thrilling match against Alex Sodre at No. 3 singles. Akbarov won 6-3 and 6-1 but struggled to break Sodre's serve in the first set. Sodre's ability to use his aggressiveness on his serve kept Akbarov on his toes. 

Finally, Akbarov got the break he sought throughout the first set and used it to get the first-set win. Akbarov took over the second set, not allowing Sodre to breathe by smothering him with effective shots to win. Akbarov played well with Baly as the duo looks to improve at making decisions together as they progress as a doubles team throughout the season. Baly took care of his singles match at No. 5 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Vieira.

Junior Ian Pedersen also played a gripping singles match at No. 2 singles. Pedersen defeated Andre Schiabel 7-5, 6-2. Pedersen trailed Schiabel 5-2 in the first, thanks to various mistakes. Pedersen finally broke Schiabel's serve, using the breakthrough to put more balls in play. 

Pedersen used the momentum from his come-from-behind win to play better in defeating Schiabel in the second set. "In the second set, I was feeling good, and I kept that level until the end of the match," said Pedersen. 

Pedersen helped the Aggies secure the doubles point by teaming Esteban Lopez to defeat Rhys Halcrow and Schiabel 6-0 at No. 1 doubles. Pedersen said the duo limited their mistakes and were able to win without complication. Lopez also won in a singles match without much difficulty, beating Halcrow 6-1, 6-1. The win gave Lopez his 34th career win as an Aggie. 

A&T's other doubles win came from the freshman Kauna Santos and sophomore Mathieu Dussaubat team. They defeated Sodre and Isaac Yang 7-6 at No. 2 doubles. Santos also earned a win over Yang at No. 3 singles, beating him 6-3, 6-3. Dussabaut won at No. 6 singles with his 6-0, 6-1 win over Meade. 

It will be a busy weekend for A&T men's tennis. The Aggies play again on Friday at 1:30 p.m. against USC Sumter before hosting Shaw at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both matches will be played at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.