SALISBURY, Md. – The No. 30 TCNJ men's tennis went on the road and brought home another regionally ranked victory on Sunday, getting the best of a bevy of tight matches to post a 7-2 win at Salisbury.
Justin Wain and
Derek Jordan were both double-winners for the Lions (12-1), who took down their fifth regionally ranked opponent of the season. Salisbury (7-8) came in at No. 14 in the Atlantic South.
Armed with a newly-minted regional ranking, Wain and
Matthew Michibata proved their doubles mettle with an impressive 8-2 rout of Brad Pappalardo and Gianluca Beaujon on the No. 1 court. The Lions' top pairing checked in at No. 13 in the latest Northeast Region rankings from the ITA.
Mitchell Desman and Christopher Catan pulled the Sea Gulls level with a narrow 8-6 defeat of
Nikola Kilibarda and
Nick Matkiwsky at No. 2, leaving the No. 3 court as the rubber match.
Derek Jordan and
Akul Telluri outlasted Russell Willenborg and Gavin Reagle, 8-7 (3), in a crucial tiebreaker to swing the match to TCNJ's side heading into singles play.
Though the doubles advantaged proved moot, it was a comfort on an afternoon in which three singles matches went to third sets and all six featured at least one 7-5 or tiebreak set.
Wain staked TCNJ to a 3-1 advantage with a come-from-behind win at No. 1 singles, edging Pappalardo by a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 count.
Kilibarda made it 4-1 with a 7-6 (3), 6-3 defeat of Catan at number four, and Matkiwsky clinched the victory by downing Reagle, 7-5, 6-4, at number five.
Jordan produced a 7-6 (1), 6-0 triumph against Jhayden Pappas at No. 6, and
Adrian Tsui joined Wain in coming from a set down to emerge victorious, fighting back for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Willenborg at No. 3.
Michibata nearly did the same, but Beaujon managed to claim the final match of the day in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 result.
With just two regular-season matches remaining, the Lions welcome Stevens to the Tennis Complex for their home finale next Saturday.