GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T men's tennis team lost one of the most decorated players in program history after the 2023 season when Vasil Ivanov played his last match for the Aggies.
It was a significant loss, but fortunately, A&T had another highly accomplished and all-conference player, Esteban Lopez, to lead the Aggies to a 15-5 record and a berth in the Coastal Athletic Association Men's Tennis Championship Tournament. Lopez departed after the 2024 season without another all-conference player behind.
Somehow, that doesn't seem to be a problem either. The Aggies improved to 11-0 on Thursday with a 4-2 win at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center over a Long Island University (LIU) Sharks team that defeated Campbell earlier this season.
A&T's impressive start, minus Ivanov and Lopez, means the Aggies have built a strong program. Period.
"Our guys have been fighting hard to win at every turn on their campaign since the middle of February," said A&T head men's tennis coach Dejon Bivens. "They have wanted to be dominant and stay unbeaten. I have been pushing our guys to bring out their best, and what is scary is that their best tennis is still coming."
That best tennis will hopefully come on Sunday when the Aggies face the No. 1 team in the nation in, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Wake Forest Tennis Center at 4 p.m. Wake Forest is 21-0 and the reigning NCAA indoor national champions.
"Our guys are well-trained warriors," said Bivens. "They may be a bit tired, but they will bring their best this Sunday. We certainly miss having Esteban and Vasil, but these guys are writing their own history and will continue to shatter all doubt and look to make noise not just in our conference but in the nation."
A&T brought the noise on Thursday. LIU and A&T did not play doubles matches because the Sharks had time constraints because of travel.
A&T received two crucial wins from a rookie and a veteran. Senior Ian Pedersen staged a thrilling three-setter against Leon Harder at No. 1 singles, winning the opening set 6-0 before losing Set No. 2, 7-5. Pedersen then slammed the door shut with a convincing 6-1 win in the third.
It marked Pedersen's second straight three-set win in as many days, improving him to 4-2 at No. 1 singles and 9-2 overall. Freshman Jindrich Brill then stepped in and defeated Ales D'Anna 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 5 singles to win his third straight match to improve to 10-1 this season.
Sophomore Lucas Coupo-Moison and sophomore Said Akbarov had heartbreaking three-set losses. Otherwise, the Aggies may have earned the sweep on Thursday. Coupo-Moison lost to Philip Hilble 6-7, 7-5, 6-2 at No. 2 singles, while Daniel Ishchanka defeated Akbarov 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Sophomore Kaua Santos and junior Mathieu Dussaubat had convincing two-set wins, accounting for A&T's complete point total. Santos defeated Victor Sjostrom 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3 singles, and Dussaubat handled Felix Abraham 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6 singles.
"This was a great win by our guys," said Bivens. "I could not be more pleased, especially since LIU came into the match confidently defeating one of our toughest conference rivals in Campbell earlier this week."
