NORFOLK, Va. – UC Riverside topped Norfolk State men's tennis on Thursday, 5-2, in a match that was closer than the final score depicted.
 
The Highlanders (16-10) swept all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead in the contest.
 
Nabil Abdallah and Gilbert Chung defeated Andres Alcaraz and Dan Dumitrascu – 6-2 – on the third court before Andreas Whelan-Merediz and Kyle McCann topped Vini Da Silva and Ignacio Guevel, 6-4, in the No. 2 flight.
 
Vignesh Subramanyan and Anderson Ju completed the sweep with a 6-3 result over Flavian Fernandez and Agustin Carrizo in the top-seeded flight.
 
UC Riverside took the first singles flight and soon led 3-1.
 
Chung topped Fernandez in straight sets – 6-3, 6-2 – in the third-seeded flight, but Da Silva put the Spartans (3-5) on the board with a 6-3, 6-1 sweep of McCann in the top-seed match.
 
The Highlanders moved to within one point of clinching the match with Subramanyan's 6-1, 6-4 victory against Dumitrascu on the fifth court.
 
Facing a 3-1 deficit, NSU did not relent and made a strong push to close out the match.
 
Alcaraz made the score 3-2 with a 6-3, 6-3 sweep of Abdallah on the second court, and the final two matches went the distance.
 
Guevel jumped out to a one-set lead with a 6-0 win over Ju on the sixth court, but Ju leveled the match with a 6-3 result in the second. The pair split the first five games in the third set before Ju strung together wins in the final two games to take the set and the match – sealing the win for the Highlanders in the process.
 
On the fourth court, Carrizo claimed a 6-4 win in the first set, but Whelan-Merediz won the next two sets – 6-2, 6-2.
 
NSU returns to the courts tomorrow, when it hosts James Madison at 2 p.m.