GREENSBORO – In what eventually became a 7-0 win for the North Carolina A&T men's tennis team over the USC Sumter Fire Ants Sunday afternoon at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center, the Aggies had their difficulties.

However, the Aggies fought their way to improve to 3-0 in the young season. Sunday's matchup included a hard-fought win at No. 3 doubles and a solid performance from No. 1 singles player Kaua Santos.

The freshman duo of Ben Werle and Illia Olefir had a tough skirmish before winning at No. 3 doubles over the Fire Ants' Andrew Griffith and Aaron Guitierrez 7-6. The incredible battle was a part of the Aggies sweeping the doubles point on Sunday. Sophomore Jindrich Brill and junior Kaua Santos defeated Rory Carlyle and Erdem Turgut 6-3 at No. 1 doubles. Freshman Niklas Laux and senior Mathieu Dussaubat helped the Aggies sweep the doubles point for the second time in three matches this season by defeating Jaime Gimenez and Aki Harada 6-2.

"We hit big serves and returns over the net and finished with volleys," Dussaubat said about the No. 2 doubles win. "Overall, it was really a solid performance."

Things moved to singles play, where Brill gave the Aggies a 2-0 advantage with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Gimenez at No. 3 singles. Brill captured his third win of the season. Brill commented that his serve and aggressive play led to his victory. He also emphasized the team win. Meanwhile, at No. 1 singles, Santos noted that the final score may look impressive, but the match was not easy. Santos defeated Harada 6-0, 6-3.

"The score may not look close, but it was," said Santos, who saw his second set go through numerous tiebreakers before the determined outcome. He broke Harada's serve to win a tiebreaker and take a 5-3 lead before serving for the match and the win. "I played perfectly in the first set," he continued. "In the second set, I went a little down. But I took care of business. Overall, I am very proud of the guys and their improvement."

Dussuabat gave the Aggies a 4-0 advantage with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Jay Capasso. Olefir won at No. 2 singles over Turgut 6-2, 7-5. Laux defeated Carlyle 7-6, 6-2 in a No. 4 singles match, and A&T's other frosh, Gabriel Linovic, defeated Hugo Sjostrand 7-6, 6-4 at No. 5 singles.

"I was happy because I improved with time," Dussuabat said about his win. "I was down both sets and figured a way around it."

A&T returns to action on Sunday, February 22, when they face the Shaw University Bears at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center at 2 p.m.