ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Matthew Michibata's historic TCNJ men's tennis career came to an end on Sunday in the first round of the NCAA singles championship.

The sixth-year star took the first set from University of Chicago's Derek Hsieh but was unable to finish it off as the latter rallied for a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 victory.

Making his second career NCAA singles appearance, Michibata stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, only for Hsieh – who plays No. 2 for the national champion Maroons – to rattle off his own five-game unanswered run. The pair traded service holds to send the first frame to a tiebreaker, which was knotted at 5-5 before Michibata grabbed a mini-break and converted the ensuing set point on his own serve.

Michibata broke serve in the first game of the second set, but Hsieh countered with his own break and the contestants traded a series of holds before Hsieh claimed a deuce point with Michibata serving at 3-4. Hsieh went on to serve out the set and ran away with the decisive third.

Michibata ends his decorated career as the program's all-time leader in career wins (165) and doubles wins (86); he ranks third all-time with 79 singles victories.

A four-time All-NJAC performer in both singles and doubles, as well as the NJAC East Player of the Year in 2023 and the WIAC East Player of the Year in 2024, Michibata was a two-time NCAA qualifier in singles and a one-time doubles qualifier. He won both the singles and doubles titles at the ITA Northeast Regional this fall, the first Lion ever to accomplish that feat.