Virginia Union Results | Virginia State Results

PETERSBURG, Va. – The Norfolk State men's tennis team defeated a pair of former CIAA foes on Tuesday, taking down both Virginia Union and Virginia State by 9-0 scores at the VSU Tennis Courts.

The Spartans matched up against Virginia Union in the morning for a neutral site match and easily breezed through the Panthers, and then faced a slightly tougher opponent in Virginia State but still came away victorious in all matches.

NSU (9-9) lost just one game the entire morning against Virginia Union, starting with sophomore Kent Austin and senior Christian Romanzini at the top doubles spot. The duo downed Charles Sheets and Terrence Malone, 8-0, while teammates Shaheed Mourillon-Swift and Roosevelt Cooper did the same against Jaymes Berry and Orlando Nelson at the second spot.

The Panthers forfeited the No. 3 doubles and the No. 6 singles positions. At the No. 4 and 5 singles slots, Cooper posted a 6-0, 6-0 win over Nelson, while junior Dexter McDowell took care of David Taylor by the same score at the fifth spot.

Kent won by a perfect sweep over Malone at the No. 3 spot, while senior Arsenio Culver also earned the 6-0, 6-0 win at the top spot over Sheets. Freshman Daniel Grauel dropped the only game of the afternoon but still earned the easy victory over Berry at the No. 2 slot, 6-1, 6-0.

Taking on the Trojans on the same court later in the day, NSU surrendered a few more games but still claimed victory. In doubles play, Culver and freshman Igor Braga downed the duo of Emmanuel Haug and Nicholas Pfab, 8-2, and Romanzini and Austin pulled out an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles, 8-4.

Grauel and Cooper finished the doubles sweep with an 8-1 win over Avery Saunders and Evan Dirksen at the third spot. Grauel also won his No. 4 singles match, 6-0, 6-4, over Nicholas Brown. Austin earned the victory one spot lower at No. 5, 6-2, 6-0, against Pfab, and Mourillon-Swift posted a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Dirksen at the sixth slot.

In the top half of the lineup, Culver posted a 6-0, 6-4 win against Haug at the No. 1 slot, while Braga was perfect against Saunders at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-0. Romanzini defeated Matthew Brown at the third slot, although Brown did make some noise in the second set before falling, 6-1, 7-5.

NSU will head to another CIAA school, Chowan, on Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. match.