JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Niagara men’s tennis team reeled off its seventh consecutive victory by battling past Saint Peter’s, 6-1, on Saturday.

Niagara (11-6, 4-0 MAAC) continued its dominance in the series with Saint Peter’s (3-10, 1-2 MAAC), winning 11 of the last 12 meetings, despite having to rally in singles after dropping the doubles point.

In No. 1 doubles, Olivier Dufour-Coursol and David Raymond had their five-match win streak snapped in an 8-4 loss to Carlos Carrera and Alex Frakes. Brandon Gallegos and Lorenz Schwojer led throughout the match until their serve was broke at 7-6 and eventually lost, 9-7. The team of Michael Elortegui and Mathieu Lacasse did win their sixth straight match.

Dufour-Coursol and Raymond each rebounded in singles. Dufour-Coursol topped Frakes, 6-2, 6-0, in three singles for his team-leading 18th singles win and seventh straight. Raymond won his fifth consecutive match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Marko Knezevic.

NU now led 2-1 with the remaining four matches going on simultaneously. The first match to finish was a No. 1 singles battle between Elortegui and Carrera. Elortegui lost the first set 6-4 and was trailing 4-1 in the second but stormed back to win 7-5. He outlasted Careera 7-6 (7) in the third set to cap the two-hour long match.

Schwojer and Gallegos both notched three-set wins in No. 4 and 5 singles, respectively, for their sixth straight singles win. Lacasse defeated Fabian Valdiviezo, 6-1, 6-2, for his fifth win in a row.

“Once again we did not play very well in doubles today,” head coach Anthony Nguyen said. “We had some close matches in singles and although we didn’t play particular well, it was nice to see us battle through. Saint Peter’s really made us work and it is credit to their team.”

The Purple Eagles qualified for the MAAC Tournament with the win and remain in first place. NU’s 4-0 conference record and seven-match win streak are both the program’s best since the 2002-03 season.

Niagara will host rival St. Bonaventure on Sunday, April 7 at 1 p.m.

Niagara University 6, Saint Peter's 1

Singles competition
1. Elortegui, Michael (NIA) def. Carrera, Carlos (SP) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (9-7)
2. Raymond, David (NIA) def. Knezevic, Marko (SP) 6-2, 6-1
3. Dufour-Coursol, O. (NIA) def. Frakes, Alex (SP) 6-2, 6-0
4. Schwojer, Lorenz (NIA) def. Coutinho, Luccas (SP) 6-4, 1-6, 6-0
5. Gallegos, Brandon (NIA) def. Bellomi, Oliver (SP) 4-6, 7-5, 10-4
6. Lacasse, Mathieu (NIA) def. Valdiviezo, Fabian (SP) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. Carrera, Carlos/Frakes, Alex (SP) def. Raymond, David/Dufour-Coursol, O. (NIA) 8-4
2. Knezevic, Marko/Coutinho, Luccas (SP) def. Schwojer, Lorenz/Gallegos, Brandon (NIA) 9-7
3. Lacasse, Mathieu/Elortegui, Michael (NIA) def. Bellomi, Oliver/Valdiviezo, Fabian (SP) 8-1

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