CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky men's tennis team ground out a handful of hard-fought victories on Saturday night as it defeated Abilene Christian, 5-2, at Five Seasons Sports Club.

The Norse clinched their first victory of the season to improve to 1-1 while halting ACU's seven-match win streak. The Wildcats dipped to 7-4 overall.

Match Notables

• Northern Kentucky held the early 1-0 edge after its No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams battled through matching 7-5 victories.
• Lukas Clemens and Adrian Isache earned the top-flight doubles victory followed by Court Clark and Javier Araya's win at the No. 3 flight.
• Araya, a sophomore transfer, also gutted out a 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles for his first win as a Norse in his first singles match played at NKU.
• At the No. 2 flight, Clemens cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 win while Clark defeated Henry Adams, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4 singles.
• Blaine Carr defeated ACU's Brad Gleason at No. 6 singles to put the Norse head 5-1. Carr took the first set 6-4 before falling 6-0 in the second then recovering for a 7-6 (4) win to seal his victory.
• Mate Virag hung tough in a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 loss to ACU's Josh Sheehy at the top flight to end the evening.

For more information on NKU's men's and women's tennis program, follow the team on Twitter @NKUNorseTennis or at facebook.com/nkunorsetennis.

Up Next

• The Norse return to action on Sunday, Feb. 5 when they travel to No. 14 Kentucky for a 5 p.m. match.

Agate

Northern Kentucky 5, Abilene Christian 2

Singles competition
1. Josh Sheehy (ACU) def. VIRAG, Mate (NKU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
2. CLEMENS, Lukas (NKU) def. Jonathan Sheehy (ACU) 6-4, 6-2
3. ARAYA, Javier (NKU) def. Nico Agritelley (ACU) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
4. CLARK, Court (NKU) def. Henry Adams (ACU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Sebastian Langdon (ACU) def. ISACHE, Adrian (NKU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
6. CARR, Blaine (NKU) def. Brad Gleason (ACU) 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (4)

Doubles competition
1. CLEMENS, Lukas/ISACHE, Adrian (NKU) def. Henry Adams/Nico Agritelley (ACU) 7-5
2. Josh Sheehy/Sebastian Langdon (ACU) def. VIRAG, Mate/LANG, Nick (NKU) 6-3
3. CLARK, Court/ARAYA, Javier (NKU) def. Brad Gleason/Jackson Fine (ACU) 7-5

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,4,3,5,6,1)