SU falls short in CAC men's tennis championship to archrival Mary Washington

SALISBURY, Md. - Second-seed University of Mary Washington defeated top-seed and host Salisbury University in the Capital Athletic Conference men's tennis championship, 7-2, on Sunday before a strong crowd of 155 at the outdoor tennis courts. The championship is the ninth straight for the Eagles, who are ranked 12th in the nation and second in the Atlantic South region.

The Sea Gulls (16-5) entered the title match seeking their first CAC crown since 1999. Salisbury, ranked No. 22 in the nation and third in the region, defeated Mary Washington (20-6) earlier in the season with a 5-4 road victory on March 29.

The first doubles match featured two of the top doubles teams in the Atlantic South region. Salisbury's No. 1 doubles team of senior Brendan Kincaid and sophomore Scott Burtzlaff, ranked second in the region, lost to Mary Washington's Randy Loden and Kaz Murata, ranked fourth in the region, by an 8-5 score. Junior Matt Nicholson and sophomore Evan Thomas, ranked 10th in the region, fared well for Salisbury against John James and Jason Dunn of UMW at second doubles. Nicholson's serve proved to be problematic for his opponents, who had difficulty returning them. The Sea Gull pair led throughout thanks to Thomas' consistent ground strokes as SU earned its first point with an 8-2 win. SU sophomore Marcus Robinson and freshmen Andrew Nottage fell at No. 3 doubles to Jon Pollak and Evan Goff.  UMW jumped out to a 7-1 lead due to their successful serves and great net play. The Gulls rallied to 7-2, but could not keep it going and lost 8-2.

In singles play, the majority of matches were very close as two of them went to third sets and three matches featured tiebreakers. Goff took down freshman David Lupinetti 6-1, 6-2 at fifth singles to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead. Salisbury battled back an earned a huge point from Thomas at fourth singles as he beat Eddie Carver 6-2, 7-5. The Sea Gulls were only down one, 3-2, before the Eagles marched to the CAC title by winning the final four matches. UMW's Zach Detweiler won a first set tiebreaker 7-6 (10-8) against SU junior Sasha Felikson at No. 6 singles before he closed out the match 6-0. The Eagles clinched the championship with a victory at No. 3 singles as Dunn defeated Burtzlaff 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.  The final two matches came down against several of the top players in the region. Kincaid, ranked ninth in the region, faced off against James, ranked third in the region, and lost in three sets 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 at first singles. Nicholson, ranked 12th in the region, dropped a tough match to Loden, fourth in the region, at second singles by the score of 7-5, 7-6 (7-2). 

Mary Washington automatically clinches a spot into next month's NCAA Division III championships. Salisbury will have to wait and see if they get selected to join the Eagles in postseason play.