CHARLOTTE, NC – North Carolina A&T men's tennis aimed to rebound Friday, but Queens University of Charlotte's Royals stopped them with a 5-2 win at the Howard Levine Tennis Center.
The Aggies lost their third straight, falling to 10-8. Despite the loss, junior
Kaua Santos maintained his strong season, claiming wins in both doubles and singles. Santos and his usual partner, sophomore
Jindrich Brill, are now 11-3 this season. Santos is also 11-3 individually after Friday.
"Props to Brilly for serving strong the entire match," Santos said about the doubles competition. "It was a good singles match for me. I'm dealing with some shoulder issues, but my willingness to win was more than my pain."
Brill and Santos won No. 1 doubles, 6-4, over Royals' Alex Morris and Noe Villen, clinching the doubles point for A&T. Earlier, freshmen
Ben Werle and
Illia Olefir lost 6-2 to Hamilton Huitt and Gavin Ryan.
Senior
Mathieu Dussaubat and freshman
Niklas Laux defeated Mark Agafanov and Tanner Cooley 6-3, helping A&T secure the doubles point after Brill and Santos won at No. 1. However, the Royals tied the match with a win at No. 5 singles. Ryan beat Olefir 6-0, 6-1.
Cooley put the Royals up 2-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Laux. Santos halted their run, beating Morris 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. It was Santos's third match at No. 2 this season; he's now 2-1 there and 9-2 at No. 1.
Huitt put the Royals back on top at No. 3 singles, defeating Werle 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. The clincher came at No. 1, where Villen beat Brill 6-1, 7-6 (7-3). Brill is now 11-5 on the season and 1-2 in the No. 1 singles position. The final match featured a tussle at No. 4 singles between Dussaubat and Filippo Scala. Dussaubat took the first set 7-5 before losing the second 6-2. The two men battled in the third before Scala emerged with a 7-5 win.
A&T's regular season is starting to come to a close. The Aggies head to Durham on Thursday to face rival North Carolina Central University (NCCU) at the Cary Tennis Park at 1 p.m. The following day, the Aggies are expected in Buies Creek for a 2 p.m. match against Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) foe Campbell at the Nisbett Tennis Center. The regular season is scheduled to come to a close on Saturday, April 11, with a 2 p.m. match at North Carolina Wesleyan at the Slick Family Foundation Tennis Center in Rocky Mount, NC.
