Hampton Match Results | UMES Results (1st Match) | UMES Results (2nd Match)
NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's tennis team picked up three more wins on Sunday at the NSU Tennis Courts, defeating UMES twice in back-to-back matches after downing rival Hampton by a 4-1 margin earlier in the morning.
The Spartans won four of the five contested singles matches against the Pirates, then easily swept through the Hawks, 7-0 and then 4-0, to run their record to 7-9 overall this year. UMES remained winless at 0-8, while Hampton dropped to 3-7.
The Spartans threw out their usual 1-2-3 lineup of seniors Arsenio Culver and Ben Marks and freshman Igor Braga against the Pirates to start things off Sunday morning. Culver handled his business in a 6-2, 6-1 win over Alvin Fludd, while Marks defeated Lakshmana Sactchihanathan, 6-2, 7-6(4) at the No. 2 spot.
Braga earned a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Kenneth Greene at the third slot, while sophomore Kent Austin won by default over Isaiah Stewart at the No. 5 position to help clinch the win.
Hampton earned its only point of the day after Andrew Williams too care of junior Dexter McDowell at the No. 4 slot, 6-3, 6-0. The teams did not compete in doubles due to Hampton's short-handed lineup.
The Spartans then breezed through UMES twice, winning all 10 singles matches contested by exact 6-0, 6-0 scores. NSU also won all three doubles matches played by 8-0 scores as well.
Culver and Marks were no match for Malcolm Johnson and Livin Costica, respectively, at the No. 1 and 2 slots in the 7-0 win that got going late Sunday morning. Braga earned the win over Wirlen Elame at the No. 3 position, while senior Christian Romanzini posted a victory at the fourth spot over Wayne Heath.
Freshman Daniel Grauel and Austin posted victories at No. 5 and 6 singles, respectively, with Grauel taking down Christopher Charles and Austin defeating George Justice.
In doubles play, Culver and Marks downed Johnson and Costica at the No. 1 spot, while Romanzini and Austin did the same against Elame and Heath at the No. 2 position. Senior Roosevelt Cooper and freshman Shaheed Mourillon-Swift helped NSU stay perfect with an 8-0 win against Charles and Justice at the third spot.
The second match of the day against UMES was played to four points, and again NSU won all four singles matches by 6-0, 6-0 scores. Grauel competed at the top spot against Johnson for the win, and Cooper handled Costica at the No. 2 spot.
Mourillon-Swift made quick work of Elame at the No. 3 position, while McDowell completed the sweep with a perfect match against Heath at the No. 4 spot.
NSU will return to the courts Tuesday at Virginia State. The Spartans will play Virginia Union in a neutral-court match at 10:30 a.m., followed by host Virginia State at 3 p.m.
