FAMU Match Results | UMES Match Results

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's tennis team shut out UMES by a 7-0 score on Saturday after falling to Florida A&M by the same margin in the MEAC Round-Up at the Palmetto Tennis Center.

The Spartans won all six singles matches in straight sets against the Hawks and swept two of the three doubles bouts as NSU's record went to 3-8 on the season. FAMU dominated the Spartans earlier in the day, winning all but one match in two sets.

Against UMES, juniors Arsenio Culver and Ben Marks pounded Emmash Sudusinghe and Osvaldo Rivera, 8-0, at No. 1 doubles, while freshman Brian Bullock and junior Jonathan Sessom also won by an 8-0 score at No. 2 doubles to Marquet Robinson and Richard Warren.

In the other doubles match, freshman Justin Shuck and sophomore Dexter McDowell won the tiebreaker, 7-4, to complete an 8-7 win over Dorian Thomas and Malcolm Johnson.

Marks got the nod at No. 1 singles and came away with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Sudusinghe. Junior Christian Romanzini won in straight set, 6-0, 6-1, against Robinson at the second singles slot, while freshman Kent Austin won by that same 6-0, 6-1 score against Thomas at No. 3.

Sessom and Bullock competed at the No. 4 and No. 5 slots, and both walked off the court winners by a perfect 6-0, 6-0 score. Sessom downed Warren at the fourth spot, while Bullock defeated Rivera at No. 5. Shuck downed Johnson, 7-5, 6-0, at No. 6 in his first collegiate match.

Earlier in the day against the Rattlers, Culver nearly earned the win at No. 1 singles against Levan Clark, dropping the first set, 7-5, before taking the second set, 6-4. Clark responded in the tiebreaker, winning 10-6 for the match win.

At No. 2 singles, Marks fell to Takura Happy, 6-1, 6-2, while Romanzini dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision at the No. 3 slot to Chidi Gabriel. In the other three matches, Austin succumbed to Maurice Wamokowa at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-0, and Sessom lost to Michael Moore, 6-0, 6-1. Bullock was shut out against Temuera Asafu-Adjaye at the last position, 6-0, 6-0.

In doubles play, Culver and Marks came up just short against Happy and Gabriel, 8-6, at the No. 1 position, while Sessom and Bullock were unsuccessful against Asafu-Adjaye and Wamokowa, 8-3, at the second doubles slot. Austin and Romanzini lost their No. 3 match against Clark and Moore, 8-0.

NSU will wrap up the tournament Sunday at 9 a.m. against North Carolina Central.