BALTIMORE, Md. – Christopher Newport's men's tennis season came to an end on Saturday as the 30th-ranked Captains fell to 17th-ranked Johns Hopkins 5-1 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. 

The Captains wrapped up their second ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Championship with the loss, running their overall record to 15-10 for the year.
 
Rookie Dominic Lacombe captured the lone point for CNU in the match, winning his bout at No. 4 singles. The Captains faced a stiff test in singles after falling behind, 3-0, after doubles, despite a pair of close losses at 1 and 3.
 
At No. 1 doubles, Justin Cerny and David Reed suffered an 8-6 setback to Joseph Cartledge and Jeremy Dubin, ranked No. 4 in the Atlantic South Regional rankings. 
 
The No. 1 doubles match was tight throughout, with seniors Michael Dodd and Arttu Fiva taking a 5-4 lead by breaking the Blue Jays serve. The home team responded though, winning four of the next five serves to take an 8-6 win and the doubles sweep. CNU sophomore William Trang and freshman Andy Mason took the loss in two doubles, 8-2.

With a high mountain to climb facing a 3-0 deficit after doubles, the Captains showed no signs of giving up once singles began. As the first sets progressed, CNU battled across the board, picking up two wins and one tight loss. Mason stretched his opponent to a seventh game in the first before falling, 7-5. Playing at No. 3, he would then suffer a second-set loss as Johns Hopkins took a 4-0 lead in the match.
 
Lacombe took over his match at No. 4, downing Cody Kim 6-4, 6-0 to get the Captains on the board. Three courts over, Reed rallied back after a 6-1 loss in the first to capture a thrilling 7-5 win in the second. At No. 2 singles, Cerny got out to one-set lead, winning 6-4, and at No. 5, Trang held off his opponent for a 7-5 win in his first set. Finally, sophomore Nicholas Ruzicka jumped out to an early lead on his opponent, Justin Kang, at No. 6.

With all four matches close, the deciding bout would come at No. 1, where Jeremy Dubin outlasted Reed (6-1, 5-7, 6-2). The Centennial Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Year would hold off CNU's veteran to clinch the match for the home team in his senior year. Dubin, ranked No. 5 in the Atlantic South, defeated Reed, ranked No. 13 in the region.
 
CNU is now 2-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with a pair of first-round victories in 2008 and 2017. It is the first time the Captains faced Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament, while the Blue Jays improve to 5-1 all-time against CNU.