Box Score

NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara men’s tennis team edged the Duquesne Dukes, 4-3, on Friday at the Niagara Tennis Courts.

The Purple Eagles (7-6) needed to win the final singles match to top the Dukes (13-8) who are second in the Atlantic-10 Conference.

“We talked a lot as a program about continuing to do the right thing and put yourself in a position to be successful,” head coach Anthony Nguyen said.  “We have had a lot of close matches not go our way and it was really nice to see the guys pull through today.” 

NU won the first doubles match when Brandon Gallegos and David Raymond defeated Aram Abgaryan and Mehdi Mekaoui, 8-3. However, Duquesne nipped NU in No. 2 and 3 doubles to take the doubles point.

Duquesne went up 2-0 after winning in No. 1 singles before Niagara reeled off three straight wins. David Lemieux-Sarrasin defeated Ben Klass, 6-3, 6-3, in sixth singles, Olivier Dufour-Coursol edged Alex Aleman in three sets in No. 4 singles and Lorenz Schwojer topped Mekaoui, 7-5, 6-1, in No 5 singles.

The Dukes tied the match at 3-3, when Gallegos lost in three sets in No. 3 singles, to setup the match decider in No. 2 singles between Raymond and Pete Carpenter. Raymond won the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6(10), but lost the second set 6-3. Raymond held off Carpenter in the third set, 6-4, to hand NU the victory. 

“It was a great team effort,” Nguyen said.  “We lost a close doubles point, but the team responded well in singles. A lot of guys played well today; David Raymond played like an upperclassman and clinched the match for the team.”

The Purple Eagles, who have won three of their last four matches, continue their homestand on Saturday against another A-10 opponent St. Joseph’s beginning at Noon.

Singles competition
1. Abgaryan, Aram (DUQ) def. Zelic, Joseph (NIA) 6-1, 6-2
2. Raymond, David (NIA) def. Carpenter, Pete (DUQ) 7-6 (12-10), 3-6, 6-4
3. Robbie, Rich (DUQ) def. Gallegos, Brandon (NIA) 7-5, 3-6, 7-5
4. Dufour Coursol, O. (NIA) def. Aleman, Alex (DUQ) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3
5. Schwojer, Lorenz (NIA) def. Mekaoui, Mehdi (DUQ) 7-5, 6-1
6. Lemieux-Sarrasin, D. (NIA) def. Klass, Ben (DUQ) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. Gallegos, Brandon/Raymond, David (NIA) def. Abgaryan, Aram/Mekaoui, Mehdi (DUQ) 8-3
2. Carpenter, Pete/Aleman, Alex (DUQ) def. Lacasse, Mathieu/Lemieux-Sarrasin, D. (NIA) 8-5
3. Robbie, Rich/Klass, Ben (DUQ) def. Schwojer, Lorenz/Dufour Coursol, O. (NIA) 8-6

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