WINTER PARK, Fla. – The North Carolina A&T men's tennis completed its spring break trip to the Orlando, Fla., 4-0 with its 7-0 win over Loyola Maryland Thursday evening at Winter Park Tennis Center. The Aggies improved to 9-0 on the season. For the eighth time this season, the Aggies swept through all six singles matches without a loss. 

It started with Esteban Lopez winning his 40th career singles match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Matt Cardano. Lopez is 9-0 on the season and finds himself eight singles wins short of breaking the program record for singles wins held by his former teammate Vasil Ivanov. Freshman Said Akbarov gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead with a convincing 6-1, 6-1 win over George Cavo. 

"In singles, my opponent was not playing badly," said Akbarov. "I was just on fire this match. All my shots were too good today. I was serving ace after ace. It was really good to feel like this during the match." 

Junior Ian Pedersen continued winning in 2024 with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Nick Haggar at No. 3 singles. Pedersen improved to 9-0 on the season to match the best start of his career. Pedersen started 9-0 last season before enduring his first loss. Freshman Kaua Santos continued the great start to his career by clinching the win for A&T with a 7-5, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles. 

A&T picked up two more wins in singles play as freshman Lucas Coupo-Moison defeated Oliver Davey 6-1, 6-4 at No. 2 singles. In addition, junior Ethan Baly moved his record to 8-0 on the season with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Bennett LaLonde 7-5, 6-4. Baly came into the season with seven career wins. 

The Aggies also swept doubles. Sophomore Mathieu Dussaubat and Santos defeated George Cavo and George Bulger 6-3. Dussaubat and Santos are 7-0 as a duo. Pedersen and Akbarov clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 win over Cardano and Christian Pemueller. Pedersen and Akbarov are 6-1 on the season. 

"The doubles match wasn't easy. But because we are in shape, we got it," said Akbarov. "We started to play more as a team, feeling each other better on the court."  

Lopez and Coupo-Moison completed the sweep at No. 1 doubles with a 7-6 win over Haggar and Davey. The duo won in a tiebreaker despite trailing 5-2 in the match. 

"Overall, it was a nice match with good points, and we took care of business," said Pedersen. "In singles, it was a nice fight. My opponent came ready to play with good energy, and it was nice to embrace the challenge and overcome it." 

The Aggies return to North Carolina to play ACC foe Wake Forest on Sunday at 4 p.m.