Men's Tennis | 2/15/2025 11:37:00 PM
Box Score
GREENSBORO – It was perfection out on the tennis courts at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center Saturday evening for the North Carolina A&T men's tennis team.
But the Aggies' overall record? It is still perfect. The Aggies improved to 2-0 in the young season with a 7-0 win over Belmont Abbey. It marked the second straight day the Aggies earned a 7-0 victory after defeating Bluefield State on Friday. It also marked the second straight day the Aggies did not lose a doubles or singles match.
That's perfection.
A&T opened by taking the doubles point with a sweep, starting with freshman Jindrich Brill and sophomore Lucas Coupo-Moison defeating Belmont Abbey's Joshua Mayhew and Matthew Orozco 6-3 at No. 2 doubles.
"It was our first time playing together and not the last, I think," said Coupo-Moison. "(Jindrich) came with so much focus and energy that it made me feel so confident to execute my game. We played a high-intensity doubles match, and I'm very happy with the win."
Sophomore Kaua Santos and junior Mathieu Dussaubat secured the point for A&T with their 6-4 win over Ewan Grieve and Peyton Williams, 6-4 at No. 3 doubles. The sweep occurred when sophomore Said Akbarov and senior Ian Pedersen defeated Jon Bayo and Marcus Bergelin 6-3 at No. 1.
"We started a little bit sloppy with a few mistakes that made us go down 2-0," said Pedersen about his partnership with Akbarov. "But once we started to put more balls in, we were able to turn the match to our side."
Dussaubat followed up his doubles win with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Williams at No. 6 singles. Brill helped the Aggies take a 3-0 lead with his victory at No. 5 singles. He defeated Grieve 6-3, 6-1 to improve to 2-0 at the outset of his collegiate career. Pedersen kept the good times rolling with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Bayo at No. 2 singles. His match clinched the win for A&T.
"I have mixed feelings about this match," Pedersen said. "I'm a little disappointed because of the beginning, but in the second set I was able to change a few things, and I started to play better. So, I finished the match with good feelings."
Pedersen added that he made too many unforced errors and gave away too many points, only winning the first match by playing better on the critical points. He slowed down a bit in the second set until he found his rhythm.
"From there, I was doing what I do in practice, and I was able to win the match without too many complications," Pedersen said.
Santos gave the Aggies a 5-0 advantage by defeating Tyler Troche 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. Santos improved to 17-3 as a singles player at A&T. Coupo-Moison won at No. 1 with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Bergelin before Akbarov completed the sweep with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Brody Sawyer at No. 3 singles.
"It was a long and intense match, but I felt good in every aspect of the game," Coupo-Moison said about his singles win. "The support I got outside the court gave me even more energy to fight and add a point on the board. I'm excited for the upcoming matches."
The Aggies will try to perfect their play while keeping their perfect record intact on Sunday, February 23, when they host Shaw University at noon at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
