SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The TCNJ men's tennis team rallied past Union for a scintillating 4-3 victory in Saturday's spring opener.
Harrison Maitland-Carter won at both No. 1 doubles and No. 1 singles for the Lions, and his victory in a third-set super tiebreak in singles paved the way for the blue and gold to steal a come-from-behind triumph in a regional barn-burner.
Union grabbed the doubles point by taking the second and third courts, though Maitland-Carter and
Asa Wong impressed with a 6-3 defeat of Ben Jacobs and Jesus Sosa in the top flight.
Alberto Thomas made short work of Sosa in a 6-2, 6-1 rout at second singles before Jacobs matched him with the same score line at number four to reclaim the lead for the Garnet Chargers.
The match ultimately swung on the top court, where Maitland-Carter and David Wang traded 6-3 sets to force a decisive super breaker. Maitland-Carter kept Wang at arm's length throughout, leading 9-4 before settling on a 10-6 decision to even the match.
Union retook the lead with a win at third singles, but TCNJ still had the upper hand as
Nathan Chan (No. 5) and
Olufela Fieulleteau (No. 6) were each up a set and a break on their respective courts at the time. Fieulleteau was broken serving for the match at 5-4 but came right back with a break of his own and served it out on his second chance for a 6-4, 7-5 victory.
That left it to Chan, and there was little drama in a straightforward 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Arhan Gupta that served as the clincher.
UP NEXT
- The Lions get right back to it on Sunday, heading to No. 18 RPI for a Sunday showdown.
