Box Score

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Norfolk State men's tennis team picked up its first win of the season in dominating fashion, sweeping rival Hampton, 7-0, Friday afternoon at the Centre Court Racquet Club.

The Spartans won in straight sets in all six singles matches and also earned victories in each of the three doubles matches to move to 1-5 on the season. Hampton opened up its 2012 campaign against the Spartans.

Hampton won no more than two games in four of the six singles matches, including a complete sweep by sophomore Kent Austin at No. 6 singles, 6-0, 6-0, over Andrew Williams. Senior Christian Romanzini and freshman Daniel Grauel each dropped just one game in their matches, with Grauel posting a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Lakshmana Sactchihanathan at the fourth spot.

Romanzini, meanwhile, won 6-1, 6-0 over Isaiah Stewart at the No. 5 spot to give the bottom half of the NSU lineup another strong victory. Senior Arsenio Culver also claimed his match in dominating form with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles over Advait Kirtane.

Freshman Igor Braga downed Kenneth Greene at the third singles position, 6-3, 6-2, while senior Ben Marks faced the biggest challenge at the top spot in the lineup. Marks defeated Alvin Fludd, 6-2, in the first set, before having to work overtime to down Fludd in the second set, 7-6, thanks to a 7-1 win in the tiebreaker.

Marks and Culver also had to battle at No. 1 doubles against Fludd and Kirtane, but the top NSU duo eventually earned the victory by an 8-6 margin. The other two doubles matches easily fell in favor of the Spartans, as Braga and Grauel downed Greene and Sactchihanathan at No. 2 doubles, 8-1.

Austin and Romanzini also won by an 8-1 margin at No. 3 doubles, downing the Hampton duo of Stewart and Williams, to give the Spartans the doubles point and the early 1-0 lead in the match leading into singles play.

NSU will get a two-week break before heading to Winston-Salem, N.C., to face Wake Forest and Winston-Salem State Feb. 17 and 18.