EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's tennis team earned a statement victory on Sunday, capping its weekend by doubling up No. 29 Swarthmore, 6-3, inside the Rec Center.
Nick Matkiwsky and
Nikola Kilibarda were both double winners for the Lions (9-1), who took down a nationally ranked opponent for the first time this season while adding a fifth notch to their chest of wins over regionally ranked foes.
The margins were razor-thin in a heavyweight showdown that saw two of three doubles courts go to tiebreakers and half of the six singles matches decided by third-set super breakers, including two that went to 11-9 scores.
The Garnet (11-4) opened up a 2-0 lead after Phil Rehwinkel and Max Pogorelov eked out a 10-8 breaker against
Derek Jordan and
Akul Telluri at No. 3 doubles. But Matkiwsky and Kilibarda came through in a big way at No. 2, edging past Charlie Force and Rushil Patel – ranked 10
th in the Atlantic South Region – by an 11-9 count in a breaker to avoid a Swarthmore sweep.
The Lions, ranked 13
th in the Northeast Region, quickly turned the tables in singles play, with
Matthew Michibata cruising to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Kevin Jiang (ranked 25
th in the Atlantic South) on the No. 2 court before Kilibarda gave the hosts their first lead of the day with a thrilling 4-6, 7-6 (6), 11-9 defeat of Rehwinkel at No. 4.
Patel narrowly knotted the match with a 6-3, 3-6, 11-9 decision over
Adrian Tsui at No. 3.
That's when Wain swung the match in the Lions' favor for good, pulling out an impressive 6-3, 6-7 (5), 10-6 win against Force, who came in ranked third in the region, at No. 1 singles.
Matkiwsky was not far behind with the clincher, a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Josiah Myers-Lipton at No. 5.
With the result already in hand, Jordan tacked on another point for good measure with an 8-6 victory against Noah Criss at No. 6.
The men's tennis team hosts Drew on Wednesday before welcoming Ramapo to the TCNJ Tennis Complex for Senior Day on Friday.
