NORFOLK, Va. – No. 2-seeded Norfolk State men's tennis surged in singles play to beat No. 3-seeded Bethune-Cookman 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the 2018 MEAC Tournament at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center in Norfolk, Virginia. The Spartans (9-5) dropped the doubles point before winning four-straight singles decisions to reach the tournament semifinals for the second-consecutive year.
 
The two teams split the first two doubles flights. The Wildcats (4-10) struck first with a 6-2 win by Victor Bravo and Jose Plazas over Andres Alcaraz and Dan Dumitrascu in the top-seeded match. NSU then responded with a 6-2 victory by Flavian Fernandez and Agustin Carrizo in the No. 3 match.
 
The doubles point came down to the second court, where Juan Diego Ruiz and Juan Navarro bested Vini Da Silva and Ignacio Guevel 6-4.
 
Trailing 1-0, the Spartans rallied off four-straight wins in singles play to clinch the match.
 
Dumitrascu evened the match with a 6-2, 6-1 decision over Navarro in the fourth-seeded match. Over on court three, Fernandez won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, against Diego Ruiz to pull NSU ahead.
 
Guevel continued the surge in the sixth-seeded flight with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Phillip Lynch.
 
Da Silva sealed the win at No. 1 singles, winning 6-1, 7-5 over Bravo.
 
Two flights went unfinished. On the second court, Alcaraz won 7-6 in the first set and was leading in the second set, 5-2. Carrizo dropped his first set at No. 5 singles, 7-6, but was on top 5-0 when the match ended.
 
The Spartans advance to the semifinals on Friday, where they will play top-seeded South Carolina State at 12 p.m. The Bulldogs defeated Howard 4-0 in the quarterfinals and have won 11 of the past 13 awarded MEAC Tournament titles.