NORFOLK, Va. – The match came down to Norfolk State's Ignacio Guevel, who was up to the challenge on Saturday afternoon in the MEAC Tournament semifinals at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center. The Spartan senior came back from a second-set deficit to clinch a 4-3 victory for the NSU men's tennis team over North Carolina A&T.
 
The Spartans won the doubles point, but the Aggies (1-9) won three of the first four completed singles matches as the overall match came down to Guevel and freshman Ivan Ivars. But both players had already won their first sets, and both won the second sets of their respective matches to send NSU to the final.
 
The Spartans, who improved to 8-4 overall this year, advance to take on South No. 1 seed South Carolina State on Sunday in the tournament final at 12 p.m. It marks NSU's second appearance ever in the championship match and the first since finishing as runner-up at the tournament in 2014.
 
Guevel, competing at No. 5 singles, won 7-5 in the first set over Nolan Martino. In the second, Guevel was down 5-4, but he won each of the next three games for another 7-5 win, earning himself a mobbing by his teammates and coaches.
 
He and junior Federico Rebecchini were victorious at No. 1 doubles as well, 6-2 over Esteban Lopez and Vasil Ivanov. The Spartans secured the doubles point when they and the duo of senior Andres Alcaraz and freshman Santiago Rendon won at almost the exact same time. Alcaraz and Rendon earned a 6-1 win at No. 2 doubles over Nicholas Arduh and Michael Ogundele.
 
Ivars and sophomore Ibrahim Abbas were ahead 5-2 at No. 3 doubles over Martino and Eadwyn Bacar when the match was abandoned.
 
Ivars also defeated Bacar 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 singles, setting up the finale between Guevel and Martino. The Spartans got their first singles point of the day when Rebecchini defeated Arduh 6-3, 6-1, at the top spot in the lineup.
 
Both Ivanov and Lopez won by exact 6-3, 6-0 scores for the Aggies. Ivanov defeated Alcaraz at the No. 2 singles position, and Lopez earned the victory at the third slot over Rendon. Ogundele posted a 6-1, 6-2 win at the No. 6 singles position over Abbas that put the Aggies up in the match momentarily, 3-2.