CHARLOTTE, NC – North Carolina A&T men's tennis will get some much-needed rest from competition after four matches in six days, culminating on Monday with a 4-1 loss to Queens University of Charlotte at Howard Levine Tennis Center.
The Aggies' next competition is Wednesday, March 26, in Montreat, NC, against Montreat College at 1 p.m. That should give top players, such as sophomore Lucas Coupo-Moison, time to heal after retiring from his match at Wake Forest, and he did not compete in singles on Monday.
Coupo-Moison did play No. 2 doubles with freshman teammate Jindrich Brill. The Coupo-Moison/Brill combination defeated Laurenz Blickwede and Gavin Ryan 7-5. Coupo-Moison and Brill are 8-2 as a duo this season.
"I'm dealing with physical issues, so I had to bring the energy and the mindset," said Coupo-Moison. "That's what I did and pushed my teammate to fight for the win. I knew this match would be important for the team."
Queens tied the race for the doubles point with a win at No. 3 doubles. Luke Coppage and Lukas Gosselin defeated the A&T duo of sophomore Kaua Santos and junior Mathieu Dussaubat 6-4. The Royals took the doubles point at No. 1 with a 7-5 win by Jan Montero and Win Steveker over senior Ian Pedersen and sophomore Said Akbarov.
The Royals took a 2-0 lead when Coppage defeated Dussaubat 6-3, 6-0 at No. 6 singles. Akbarov cut Queens' lead to 2-1 with a win at No. 3. Akbarov defeated Montero 6-0, 6-4. Akbarov improved to 3-0 at No. 3 singles this season. He is 10-2 overall.
Pedersen dropped to 4-3 as the Aggies' No. 1 singles player as Blickwede defeated Pedersen 6-2, 6-1. Queens clinched the match at No. 2 singles with Steveker defeating Santos 6-1, 7-5. Two matches went unfinished. Senior Ethan Baly won his first set over Gavin 6-4 but trailed 5-3 in the second before the two stopped their match.
At No. 4 singles, Brill won 6-4 in the first set over Jake Grimes. Grimes led 5-4 before the match ended because the Royals had clinched the overall match.
A&T's break from competition should prove necessary because, after their match against Montreat, they will face UNC Greensboro on March 27, Hampton on March 28, and the 30th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs on March 29.
"Of course, I'm disappointed about the loss; I really wanted to get the victory," said Coupo-Moison. "Now, let's get work again before another series of matches next week."
