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Igor Kubalka
Nick Sutton
4
Winner N.C. Central NCCU-MT (4-4)
3
Norfolk State NSUM25 (4-5)
Winner
N.C. Central NCCU-MT
(4-4)
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Final
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Norfolk State NSUM25
(4-5)

Match Recap: Men's Tennis | | Alex Lehmbeck, Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Communication

NSU Men’s Tennis Defeats Chowan, Drops Heartbreaker to NCCU

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State men's tennis team split a pair of home matches on Saturday, defeating Chowan 4-2 before dropping a heartbreaker to North Carolina Central 4-3.

The Spartans opened the day with a comfortable victory over Chowan, although the Hawks got off to a strong start by winning the opening doubles point.  Jakub Solarski and Frederick McRae won 6-2 on Court 3, but Chowan responded with victories on Courts 1 and 2 to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Norfolk State regrouped during singles play. Deniz Okyay beat Thales Sette 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 3 slot to tie the match 1-1. Solarski beat Igor Pischelev 6-4, 6-3 at on Court 2, before Chowan's Marcel Ungerboeck took down Vladisav Gorbatenko 6-4, 6-4 at the top position to even the match.
 
The Spartans secured the win, however, with victories on Courts 5 and 6. Igor Kublaka defeated Kachak 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 5 position, before McRae bested Sanchez 6-2, 6-2 on No. 6. Boris Lunin led 6-2, 5-4 when play came to a stop.
 
In the second match of the day, Norfolk State came up short again in doubles play, ultimately making the difference in the team's conference opener result. McRae and Igor Kubalka won 6-4 at the No. 3 position, but the Eagles earned 6-4 and 6-2 victories on Courts 1 and 2, respectively.
 
Solarski bounced back quickly, taking down Kareem Hakim Abdul 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 2 singles position to even the match 1-1. Reigning MEAC Player of the Year Hugo Hidalgo-Vega beat Gorbatenko 6-1, 6-1 on Court 1, before McRae responded with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph at the No. 5 slot.
 
Okyay put NSU back in front by defeating Rodrigo Alves 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 3 position, but former Spartan Antoni Pankowski took down Kubalka 6-3, 6-4 on Court 6. The match came down to No. 4 singles, with North Carolina Central's Naresh Bharathy defeating Lunin 6-4, 6-4.

Norfolk State returns to action on Tuesday, Mar. 4 at Longwood.

For complete coverage of Norfolk State Athletics, please follow the Spartans on social media at @nsuspartans (X), /NorfolkStateAthletics (Facebook), @NSUAthletics (Instagram), @nsuathletics (YouTube) or visit the official home of Norfolk State Athletics at nsuspartans.com.
 
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