NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Northern Kentucky University men's tennis team punched its ticket to the postseason on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Lipscomb to close out Atlantic Sun Conference play.
With the win, NKU improved to 7-12 overall and 1-5 in A-Sun play, clinching a No. 6 seed in next weekend's A-Sun Championship in the process.
The Norse picked up the doubles point in three tough matches.
Jack Carney and
Nick Lang captured the No. 3 doubles match against Thais Minet and Alejandro Manzanares, 8-5, before the Bisons (9-13, 0-6 A-Sun) took a victory at No. 2 when Philippe Corteau and Alex Pavel defeated
Christopher Angulo and
Adrian Isache, 8-6.
The doubles point was won in tiebreak fashion in the top-flight match when
Mate Virag and
Jody Maginley swept a 7-0 tiebreaker from John Tougher and Rob Mitchell to put the Norse ahead.
Carney and
Balint Zsidai pushed the Norse to three points with wins at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, in singles action. Carney took a 7-5, 6-2 win from Pavel, while Zsidai bested Minet, 6-3, 6-3.
The Norse clinched the match at No. 3, when Maginley defeated Corteau, 6-1, 6-4. Angulo added his team-leading 12
th singles win as well, defeating Manzanares at No. 2, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4).
NKU concludes the regular season on Wednesday, heading across the Ohio River to take on Xavier. First serve is set for 3 p.m.
