GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T men's tennis is 2-0 after two strong performances on Friday at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.

After a stellar fall season, the Aggies opened the 2026 spring season, the championship portion of their schedule, against the Belmont Abbey Crusaders at noon before facing the Montreat Cavaliers later in the evening. Both resulted in the Aggies winning 7-0.

The Aggies swept all three doubles matches against the Crusaders, starting with freshmen Ben Werle and Illia Olefir defeating Jesus Espinoza and Jack McGregor 6-3 at No. 3 doubles. At No. 1 doubles, sophomore Jindrich Brill teamed with junior Kaua Santos to win 6-4 over Gianni Russo and Brody Sawyer. Brill and Santos led 5-4 and were able to break serve to secure the win.

"It was a tough match," Santos said about the doubles match he and Brill won. "They broke our serve early in the match, and they were serving well."

Senior Mathieu Dusssaubat and freshman Niklas Laux completed the sweep with a 6-4 win over Joshua Mayhew and Ryan Nguyen. It was their first time teaming together. During singles play, the Aggies had two thrilling three-setters to preserve the sweep.

Freshman Gabriel Linovic lost the first set to Espinoza at No. 6 singles before capturing the second set 6-2 and going on to win 10-4 in the third. Meanwhile, Olefir had a 6-4 first-set win before losing the second set 7-5. But in a thrilling 11-9 third-set win, he captured his first collegiate singles win. games.

Head coach Dejon Bivens called Olefir Friday's MVP. He just arrived at A&T after the New Year, but played solid tennis on Friday.

The other four single matches against the Crusaders went a little quicker. Dussaubat won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5 singles over McGregor, and Brill cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Brody Sawyer. Laux secured his first collegiate win, beating Sullivan Monteith 6-3, 6-3. In his first career match as a No. 1 singles player, Santos won 6-3, 6-3 over Nguyen.

"I didn't play the way I wanted, but it was enough to bring home the W," Santos said.

Against the Cavaliers, Santos and Brill teamed up again at No. 1 doubles and won 6-1. The Aggies did clinch the point with Werle and Olefir winning at No. 2 doubles, 6-2, over Joaquin Hernandez and Julian Stolevski. The Cavaliers managed to take a doubles match off A&T as Dussaubat and Laux lost to Youssef Idboufous and Fabrizio Moreno 7-5. Dussaubat said he and Laux missed out on some opportunities, but that was not the case in Dussaubat's No. 5 singles match against Hernandez.

"I played very well and took advantage of my opponent's weaknesses," said Dussaubat. "I'm really happy for the team, and I'm happy for these wins. We will keep pushing."

After crediting his doubles partner, Brill, for playing amazingly during their doubles match, Santos was impressed with his improvement at No. 1 singles from Friday's first match to the second one against Victor Monteiro. Santos beat Monteiro 6-0, 6-1.

"On this one, I could do what I expected to do in the last match," Santos said. "I played with great intensity and power, being able to dominate the whole match."

Brill also dominated in his singles match, winning 6-2, 6-4 over Lucas Desclazi. Olefir got win No. 2 with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Idboufous. Laux won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0 over Moreno and Linovic defeated Stolevski 6-2, 6-2.

A&T returns to action on Sunday, February 15, when they host USC Lancaster at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.