EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ men's tennis team came back from a doubles deficit to score a 5-4 victory over visiting NYU on Saturday inside the Rec Center.
Brett Schuster provided the clinching point at No. 6 singles for the Lions (6-1), who emerged victorious over the Violets for the second year in a row.
The first to finish in a closely contested doubles series,
Matthew Michibata and
Harrison Maitland-Carter staked the Lions to an early lead with an 8-6 defeat of Alex Yang and Zachary Freier on the No. 1 court.
The Violets, however, stormed back with matching 8-5 triumphs on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts, grabbing a 2-1 advantage heading into singles competition.
Needing to take four of six singles courts, the Lions did exactly that.
Adrian Tsui cruised past Freier 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2, and
Alberto Thomas edged Joseph He 7-6 (3), 6-2 at No. 4 to put TCNJ on top again.
After the Violets won on court number three, the match was even at 3-apiece. The pendulum swung toward the Lions again as Michibata claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 thriller over Yang at No. 1, and the fifth-year's mettle in the decisive super tiebreak proved vital when NYU won at No. 5.
That put the fate of the match squarely in Schuster's hands, and the rookie flourished under pressure. Already well on his way to victory, only a few moments passed between the Violets' equalizer and Schuster's comprehensive 6-1, 6-0 rout at No. 6.
The men's tennis team is becoming all too familiar with nail-biters, as Sunday marked the third consecutive match decided by a 5-4 score line.
Another barnburner could be on tap for Sunday, when Haverford comes to town to continue a series that has seen three straight 5-4 decisions. First serve is set for 12 p.m.
