GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T men's tennis team lost a crazy back-and-forth match with crosstown rival UNC Greensboro before the Spartans handed A&T only its second loss of the season, a 4-3 decision at the UNCG Tennis Courts on Friday morning. 

A&T dropped to 11-2 on the season. UNCG improved to 5-12 after getting off to a good start in doubles play. The Spartans earned their first doubles win at the No. 3 position. A&T sophomore Mathieu Dussaubat and freshman Kaua Santos lost to the UNCG duo of John Gabelic and Hampus Johansson 6-1. The Spartans took the doubles point when Tymofiy Khrystyuk and Luke Thomson defeated Aggie freshman Said Akbarov and junior Ian Pedersen 6-2 at No. 2 doubles. 

Freshman Lucas Coupo-Moison and graduate Esteban Lopez did not get an opportunity to complete their doubles match against David Flisberg and Christopher Johns because the Spartans had already secured the doubles point. Coupo-Moison and Lopez led 4-3 when the match concluded early. 

"We started a bit slowly, but Esteban pushed me to overcome my nerves, and we fought back," said Coupo-Moison.  

Lopez did finish his singles match against Khrystyuk. He defeated Khrystyuk in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. Lopez improved to 11-1 on the season. It marked his 42nd career win. Coupo-Moison also got the opportunity to complete his singles match at No. 2 singles. He beat Flisberg 6-0, 6-3 to give the Aggies the lead at 2-1. 

"I played really well," said Coupo-Moison. "I was mentally ready to fight from the first to the last point. I have been practicing hard all week, and I knew that my level of play would show off today. And that was the case. I was determined to win." 

The same could be said for Akbarov at No. 3 singles. Akbarov also won in straight sets with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Tejas Wall. The win gave the Aggies a 3-1 lead, putting them one win away from clinching the match. But the Spartans stayed in the match thanks to Thomson's 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles over A&T junior Ethan Baly. 

In an exciting No. 4 singles match, Gabelic defeated Pedersen 7-6, 7-5 in a tiebreaker. Gabelic's win tied the match at 3-3. Therefore, the match came down to Santos at No. 5 singles. Santos took the first set 6-2 before Devon Moskowitz evened things in the second set with a 6-4 win. Moskowitz gave the Spartans the win with a 6-2 victory in the third set. Santos dropped to 11-2 on the season. 

A&T is scheduled to face N.C. State on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C. A time has yet to be determined.