Match Results

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's tennis team split with James Madison the six contested matches on Saturday afternoon, but the Dukes earned a 5-2 win over the Spartans at ODU's Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
 
Each team won two singles matches and one doubles match, but NSU defaulted at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles because of its shorthanded lineup. James Madison also won at No. 5 singles as NSU forfeited that matchup as well.
 
The Spartans (0-4) earned wins at No. 2 and 4 singles, with freshman Benedikt Henning topping Robert Sterling at the second spot, 6-4 and 7-6. Henning won the second-set tiebreaker by a 10-8 margin to prevent the contest from going to a third set.
 
At No. 4, meanwhile, sophomore Antonio Pejic fell in the first set to Tristan Stitt, 6-1. No matter, as Pejic won the next two, 6-3 and 6-1, to earn NSU's second point of the afternoon.
 
The Spartans almost made it a third with the No. 3 singles match. Freshman Dan Dumitrascu lost the first set to Brett Moorhead, 6-4, before Dumitrascu took the second set, 7-6, with an 8-6 win in the tiebreaker. Moorhead, though, was too much in the third set tiebreaker, won by a 10-5 margin.
 
Henning and freshman Flavian Fernandez also earned a win in doubles, topping Stitt and Sterling by a 7-5 score at the No. 1 spot.
 
"It was a tough match for us, and we had some opportunities but ultimately came up short," said head coach Worth Richardson. "We will learn from it and get ready for next weekend."
 
Pejic and sophomore Fatehdeep Singh came up short to Miljan Ruzic and Sebastian Salinas at the No. 2 spot, 6-3. Salinas also won at No. 1 singles, topping Fernandez 6-3 and 6-2.
 
JMU's Maxi Branth was the benefactor of NSU forfeiting the match at No. 5 singles as well. The Dukes improved their record to 3-2 this season.
 
The Spartans will not need to leave town for their next match, a contest against Bucknell next Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.