NC Wesleyan clips No. 22 Salisbury, 5-4

SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 22 Salisbury University men's tennis team was upended by North Carolina Wesleyan 5-4 on Sunday afternoon at the outdoor tennis courts. This is the second loss for the Sea Gulls (2-2) this season as the match came down to singles play.

The Sea Gulls entered singles action with a 2-1 lead over the Battling Bishops (3-0) before North Carolina Wesleyan made its move. The Bishops tied the score at 2-2 as Fred Lemongo defeated SU senior Sasha Felikson 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6 singles. The two teams traded points on the next two pairings. SU sophomore Andrew Nottage won 6-3, 6-2 over Anton Filonov at No. 5 singles while North Carolina Wesleyan's Alexey Rumyantsev took down junior Evan Thomas 6-2, 6-1 at second singles. Salisbury took its final lead of the day when freshman Daniel Barnas won 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4 singles over Marcelo Prata. The Battling Bishops won the final two pairings to win the match.

North Carolina Wesleyan tied the match 4-4 when Antti Saari forced a third set against junior Scott Burtzlaff at No. 1 singles. Saari won the match 6-1, 2-6, 6-2. The match came down to No. 3 singles between Salisbury sophomore David Lupinetti and NC Wesleyan's Davit Minasyan. Lupinetti won the first set in a tiebreaker 6-7 (7-5). Minasyan answered back as he swept the second set 6-0 and held on to beat Lupinetti 6-3 in the third and decisive set.

In doubles action, earlier in the match, Salisbury recorded wins at first and second doubles. Burtzlaff-Thomas defeated Rumyantsev-Saari 8-5 at No. 1 doubles. Barnas-Nottage followed suit at No. 2 doubles as they doubled up Minasyan-Prata, 8-4. The Battling Bishops stole a point at No. 3 doubles at the pair of Ilpo Kautonen and Filonov took down Lupinetti and junior Marcus Robinson, 8-6.

SU is off this week before it heads west to California for its annual Spring Break Trip. The Sea Gulls' first match is March 16 against No. 11 Bowdoin College in Pomona, Calif.