NKU got its first win over a Division I program since 2003 with a 4-3 decision against Dayton on Friday.
Results
DAYTON, Ohio – The Northern Kentucky University men's tennis team scored a big win on Friday, taking a 4-3 decision from Division I foe Dayton.
The victory marked NKU's first win over a Division I program since the 2003 season, when NKU claimed wins over Wright State and Western Kentucky. Next season, the Norse will compete as full Division I members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
The match got off to an inauspicious start for the Norse (3-1), who dropped all three doubles matches, though not without a fight. In the top flight,
Martin Leroy and
Tyler Fraser battled Beni Benalcazar and Aiden Koross to a tiebreak, which the Flyers' pair claimed by a 7-3 margin.
Guillaume Berman and
Pierce Kohls dropped an 8-6 match to Dayton's Robert Salcedo and Joe West in the No. 2 flight, and
Andre Correa and
Christopher Angulo fell by a 9-7 score to Andrew Hanley and Josh Maylon.
On the home courts, this would have been a disastrous start. However, as the match was played at Dayton (2-3), Division I scoring rules prevailed and the doubles results were combined into a single point for the Flyers.
The Norse steeled themselves for singles play and saw quick results as Correa claimed victory over Andrew Hanley, 6-4, 6-4, in the No. 3 flight. The win kept Correa's singles record perfect at 5-0 on the year.
Leroy got a hard-fought victory over Dayton's Koross in the top flight, going to a 6-4 third set, and Berman followed up with a 6-3 third-set decision over Salcedo to put the Norse just one point from victory.
That point came from Chris Angulo, who got his first win of the spring with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Joe West in the No. 4 flight to put the Norse over the edge. The Flyers took the next two matches, but a Norse victory was already in hand.
“It was an impressive victory,” said head coach
Brian Nester. “The guys showed great mental toughness coming back for wins in some extended matches after those three hard-fought doubles matches.”
NKU hits the road once more next weekend, taking on the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky.
