Match Results

NORFOLK, Va. – East Carolina was not bothered by an early Saturday morning start in a 5-1 defeat of the Norfolk State men's tennis team at Old Dominion's Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.

NSU fell to 1-5 on the season, while the Pirates improved to 5-1 after the 9 a.m. first serve on ODU's indoor courts. Due to time constraints, the teams did not compete in doubles.

Junior Ben Marks picked up NSU's only win on the day, downing Jaroslav Horvath, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 2 singles. Senior Arsenio Culver nearly gave the Spartans a sweep of the top two spots, falling in the first set to Massimo Mannino, 7-5, before rebounding to win the second set, 6-3, at the No. 1 singles spot. Mannino, though, won the third-set tiebreaker, 10-2, for the match victory.

In the other matches, junior Christian Romanzini lost to Henrik Skalmerud, 6-0, 6-2, at the No. 3 spot, while freshman Kent Austin got swept by John Schmitt at No. 4 singles, 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Brian Bullock dropped a 6-2, 6-0 decision at the fifth singles slot to Mario Martinez, and junior Jonathan Sessom, at No. 6 singles, fell in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, to David Masciorini.

NSU will head to the MEAC round robin tournament in Sumter, S.C., beginning with Bethune-Cookman and South Carolina State March 3.