EWING, N.J. – The No. 21 TCNJ men's tennis team tangled with No. 22 Mary Washington in a pulse-pounding nationally ranked showdown on Sunday, eventually falling just short in a 5-4 decision that came down to a third-set tiebreaker on the last remaining singles court.
 
The Lions lost for just the second time all season in their regular-season finale and will now prepare for a trip to Wisconsin-Whitewater for the WIAC championship on Saturday.
 
FOR THE RECORD

• TCNJ is 14-2 overall, while Mary Washington improved to 14-7

DOUBLES

• After the Eagles claimed an 8-5 win at No. 1, Aayush Kishore and Nathan Chan came up huge with a commanding 8-3 victory over Drew Campbell and Brock Ladehoff at No. 3 to even the match at 1-1
• Mary Washington grabbed the upper hand with an 8-5 result at No. 2 doubles 

SINGLES

• The Eagles quickly upped their lead to 3-1 with a straight-set win at No. 5, but TCNJ began to take control from there
• Brett Schuster dominated his No. 6 match with Albert Vladimirsky, 6-2, 6-2
• The four remaining flights all went to a decisive third set, and Kishore pulled TCNJ even with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Artis Hart at No. 3
• Matthew Michibata was next off the court with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory against Rishi Charan Shankar in a showdown of regionally ranked standouts on the No. 1 court, putting the Lions on top, 4-3
• Mary Washington, however, won the remaining two courts to claim the team victory
• Trevor Rein edged out Alberto Thomas 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 4
• Adrian Tsui and Ladehoff went the distance at No. 2, trading sets before the decisive third continued all the way to a tiebreak. Ladehoff got the best of Tsui there, posting a 7-3 decision to polish off a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3) triumph and hand the Eagles the hard-fought victory

NOTES

• Michibata is 5-0 in three-set matches this season, three of which have seen him come back from a set down
• Kishore improved to 3-1 in three-setters, and Sunday's victory was his second from a set down

UP NEXT

• The Lions take on No. 16 Wisconsin-Whitewater with the WIAC title and automatic NCAA Tournament bid on the line