JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The No. 30 TCNJ men's tennis team came through in the biggest match of the season, using a sweep of doubles play to catapult its way to an 8-1 victory at New Jersey City and clinch the NJAC East Division crown.
The Lions (13-2, 3-0) avenged last year's loss to the Gothic Knights in the NJAC Championship match and booked a date at Wisconsin-Whitewater on May 7 with the NJAC title – and accompanying automatic NCAA qualifying spot – on the line.
Justin Wain and
Matthew Michibata kicked off the coronation with an 8-5 win over Nico Teynie and Theo Bourghelle in the number one doubles position.
Akul Telluri and
Jacob Quijano matched that score line against Alejandro Ley and Jordi Julia at No. 3, and
Nick Matkiwsky and
Nikola Kilibarda sealed the sweep with an 8-6 defeat of Olaf de Lange and Ryan Weiss at No. 2.
Derek Jordan brought the Lions to the precipice with a 6-3, 6-3 victory against de Lange at No. 6 singles and Matkiwsky clinched it with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Weiss at No. 5.
Adrian Tsui cruised past Julia by a 6-2, 6-2 count at No. 3 before NJCU broke up the shutout bid with a win at No. 2.
Wain took a first-set tiebreaker on the way to a 7-6 (3), 6-1 win opposite Teynie on the top court before Kilibarda put a bow on the afternoon with a 6-3, 7-6 (8) victory in a hard-fought match against Ley in the number four slot.
The Lions now have two weeks to prepare for their trip to the Midwest to take on Whitewater, which clinched the West Division title with a victory over Oneonta on Sunday.
