MEDIA, Pa. – In its first match of the 2026 spring schedule, the TCNJ men's tennis team rolled over UC Santa Cruz, 6-1, in a bicoastal dual debut at the UNLTD Tennis Academy.

Alberto Thomas and Sidd Arudi were double winners for the Lions, while Faris Shehata (singles) and Tomas Velez (doubles) each registered their first victories in a collegiate dual.

TCNJ claimed the first point of the day by sweeping the three doubles matches. Harrison Maitland-Carter and Asa Wong won their match 6-2 at No. 1 doubles, after which Sidd Arudi and Tomas Velez claimed a 6-3 win at No. 3 to lock up the doubles point.

Thomas and Nathan Chan were involved in the closest doubles match of the day, finishing out with a 6-4 victory on a break of serve.
 
In singles, TCNJ took wins in all but one match. 

Shehata was first off the court with a straightforward 6-2, 6-2 victory at No. 4, and Thomas - playing No. 1 for the first time - was right behind with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Gavin Sontag in the top flight. 

The Banana Slugs (0-1), opening their dual campaign nearly 3,000 miles from home, got on the board when Benjamin Wang outlasted Maitland-Carter 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in a three-set thriller at No. 2.

Brett Schuster (No. 5) and Arudi (No. 6) each notched a 6-2, 6-2 victory, leaving Aidan Twamley as the last man standing. The Lions' junior bounced back from a loss in a marathon second-set tiebreak the end the day with a 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-4 win over Rocco Melendez in the third flight. 

NOTES

• TCNJ and Santa Cruz matched up for the first time in program history
• Thomas continues to close in on 100 career victories, currently sitting at 92

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to Drew on Saturday for a pair of duals against the host Rangers and Dickinson