Match Results

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Norfolk State men's tennis team was already in a 2-0 hole by the time the first contested singles match began. The Spartans, though, did not play the fool on April 1.
 
NSU won all five contested singles matches to earn a 5-2 MEAC win over Howard on Friday afternoon at the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation's (WTEF) indoor courts at the Tennis, Education and Community Center in southeast Washington, D.C.
 
The Spartans lost the doubles point after defaulting at the third spot in the lineup and dropping the match at the No.1 position. NSU won a couple of tiebreakers in singles to remain perfect in MEAC Northern Division play at 4-0. The Spartans also improved to 6-12 overall.
 
"Our doubles came out flat and Howard took advantage to take an early lead," said head coach Worth Richardson as his team fell behind in the match 2-0. "The guys fought back hard in singles to secure a huge victory in conference play."
 
NSU has only one conference match left, taking place on April 16 at home against Morgan State. The Bears have played just one MEAC contest so far but could be in line for first place in the North when they play NSU.
 
Because of their short-handed lineup, Norfolk State defaulted at No. 6 singles as well as the third doubles spot against Howard on Friday. The Spartans wasted little time in erasing that lead, with the top two positions earning a pair of two-set wins.
 
Freshman Benedikt Henning topped Ismael Kaouache at the No. 1 spot, 6-1 and 6-2, while sophomore Antonio Pejic defeated William Jones III at the second slot, 6-2 and 6-3. At No. 5 singles as well, sophomore Fatehdeep Singh took down Spencer Kelly, 6-4 and 6-1.
 
At the third position, freshman Dan Dumitrascu dropped the first set against Laguna Foster Jr., 6-2, before storming back to win 6-1 and 7-5 in the next two sets. The Spartans also got the win at No. 4 singles, where freshman Flavian Fernandez won 6-1 over Myron Davis in the first set before winning the second set, 7-6, including 7-3 in the tiebreaker.
 
Pejic and Singh also earned the victory in doubles, earning a 6-1 win over Davis and Foster at the No. 2 position. Howard, though, won No. 3 doubles by default and also took the top position, where Kaouache and Jones pulled out a 6-3 win over Henning and Fernandez.
 
Howard fell to 2-13 overall and 1-2 in conference play.
 
The Spartans will turn right around and play at Navy on Saturday at 1 p.m.