Campbell, Drexel and Charleston win first-round matches at the CAA Men's Tennis Championship

Campbell, Drexel and Charleston win first-round matches at the CAA Men's Tennis Championship

4/18/2024 5:15:56 PM

Rob Washburn

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (April 18, 2024) Campbell, Drexel and Charleston posted victories in the first round of the 2024 CAA Men's Tennis Championship on Thursday at the Mackesy Tennis Center on the William & Mary campus.

#8 Charleston 4, #9 North Carolina A&T 2

Senior Zac Larke battled past Lucas Coupu-Moison, 7-6 (3), 6-4 at No. 2 singles, sending 8^e– advanced Charleston (12-10) to the quarterfinals with a 4-2 win at 9^e-seeded North Carolina A&T (15-5).

Charleston took an early 1-0 lead after a competitive doubles point. A&Ts No. 2 duo, Said Akbarov and Ian Pedersen, rolled past Matias Gaedechens and JD Rojas 6-1, but the Cougars held on as their No. 3 tandem, Zac Larke and Brolin Dorsey, rallied from Mathieu Dussaubat and Kaua Santos held off. for a 6-4 victory. The point was decided at No. 1, when Charleston's Mattia Bernardi and Eddie Vo got a break at 5-all and then posted a 7-5 victory over Esteban Lopez and Coupu-Moison.

The Cougars extended their lead to 3-0 when Vo defeated Pedersen 6-1, 6-2 at No. 4 singles and Rojas defeated Dussaubat 7-5, 6-0 at No. 6. The Aggies fought back when Akbarov defeated Gaedechens, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 and Lopez recorded a 6-3, 6-4 win over Bernardi at No. 1. With A&T in the lead at No. 5, Larke was able to close out the match. match by breaking Coupu-Moison and earning the decisive point.

#7 Drexel 4, #10 Hofstra 0

Alan Jesudason and Egor Kirakosov secured three-set victories, making it seven sets^e-Drexel (13-8) posted a hard-fought 4-0 win at 10^e-seeded Hofstra (7-11).

The Dragons claimed the doubles point with a pair of convincing wins. Drexel's No. 1 team of Jesudason and Alex De Sousa defeated Hideki Matsuoka and Vincent Turina 6-1, and the No. 3 tandem of Pierre Humayou and Hussein El Tawil defeated Joshua Reynolds and Maxim Michaels 6-1.

In singles, De Sousa defeated Matthew Garcia 7-5, 6-2 at No. 3 to make it 2-0. Drexel closed out the match as Jesudason fought past Ostap Kovalenko 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 at No. 1, and Kirakosov rallied for 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 over Kaita Odani at No. 1.5.

#6 Campbell 4, #11 Hampton 0

Tomas Balazi recorded wins in singles and doubles to help reach 6^e-seeded Campbell past 11^e-placed Hampton 4-0 in the Camels' first CAA tournament.

The Camels took the doubles point and took a 1-0 lead. Campbell's No. 2 team of Damien Nezar and Tomas Balazi defeated Shine Tokas and Benjamin Mwanza 6-1, but Hampton responded with a win at No. 3 as Daniel Flynn and Aryan Arora defeated Pol Otin and Matias Lofink 6-2 . Campbell took the point as No. 1 when the duo of Benjamin Maes and Lukas Steffen defeated Emiliano Jorquera and Donte Armbrister 6-2.

Campbell finished the match with three straight singles victories. The Camels Luke Tollenaar defeated Mwanza 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 and Pol Otin followed with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Arora at No. 5. Balazi won the match by beating Tokas 6-2, 6-4 at number 4.

The CAA Men's Tennis Championship continues on Friday with four quarterfinals. Top-seeded UNCW meets #8 Charleston at 9 a.m., followed by #4 Monmouth vs. #5 William & Mary at 12 p.m. #2 Delaware will face #7 Drexel at 3:00 PM and #3 Elon will face #6 Campbell at 6:00 PM

Visit www.caasports.com/mtennis for live results, summaries and highlights.

2024 CAA MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
First round April 18, 2024
Mackesy Tennis Center Williamsburg, Virginia.

#8 Charleston 4, #9 North Carolina A&T 2
Singles

#1 Esteban Lopez (A&T) d. Mattia Bernardi (CofC), 6-3, 6-4
#2 Zac Larke (CofC) d. Lucas Coupu-Moison (A&T), 7-6 (3), 6-4
#3 Said Akbarov (A&T) d. Matthias Gaedechens (CofC), 6-2, 6-1
#4 Eddie Vo (CofC) d. Ian Pedersen (A&T), 6-1, 6-2
#5 Jordy Larke (CofC) vs. Kaua Santos (A&T) DNF, 4-6, 6-0, 4-5
#6 JD Rojas (CofC) d. Mathieu Dussaubat (A&T), 7-5, 6-0
Order of finish: 4, 6, 3, 1, 2*

Double

#1 Bernardi/Vo (CofC) d. Lopez/Coupu-Molson (A&T), 7-5
#2 Akbarov/Pedersen (A&T) d. Gaedechens/Red (CofC), 6-1
#3 Z. Larke/Brolin Dorsey (CofC) p. Dussaubat/Santos (A&T), 6-4
Order of finishing: 2, 3, 1*

#7 Drexel 4, #10 Hofstra 0
Singles

#1 Alan Jesudason (DU) d. Ostap Kovalenko (HU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
#2 Hussein El Tawil (DU) vs. Joshua Reynolds (HU) DNF, 3-6, 6-1, 4-2
#3 Alex De Sousa (DU) d. Matthew Garcia (HU), 7-5, 6-2
#4 Alessio Azalini (DU) vs. Hideki Matsuoka (HU) DNF, 6-3, 0-6, 2-3
#5 Egor Kirakosov (DU) d. Kaita Odani (HU), 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
#6 Josue Guzman (DU) vs. Maxim Michaels (HU) DNF, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 0-0
Order of finishing: 3, 5, 1*

Double

#1 Jesudason/De Sousa (DU) d. Matsuoka/Vincent Turina (HU), 6-1
#2 Guzman/Kirakosov (DU) vs. Kovalenko/Jonathan Mahrt Guyou (HU) DNF, 1-5
#3 Peter Humayou/El Tawil (DU) d. Reynolds/Michaels (HU), 6-1
Order of finishing: 1, 3*

#6 Campbell, #11 Hampton
Singles

#1 Damien Nezar (CU) vs. Emiliano Jorquera (HU)
#2 Benjamin Maes (CU) vs. Daniel Flynn (HU)
#3 Lukas Steffen (CU) vs. Donte Armbrister (HU)
#4 Tomas Balazi (CU) vs. Shine Tokas (HU), 6-2, 6-4
#5 Paul Otin (CU) d. Aryan Arora (HU), 6-2, 6-4
#6 Luke Tollenaar (CU) d. Benjamin Mwanza (HU), 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 5, 4*

Double

#1 Maes/Steffen (CU) d. Jorquera/Armbrister (HU), 6-2
#2 Nezar/Balazi (CU) d. Tokas/March (HU), 6-1
#3 Flynn/Arora (HU) d. Matias Lofink/Otin (CU), 6-2
Order of finishing: 2, 3, 1*