BOX SCORE

DURHAM, N.C. – Sophomore Gabriel Cucalon extended his winning streak to five matches in securing the only team point for host North Carolina Central University in a 6-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Southern Division dual match against South Carolina State University on Saturday.
 
SCSU had four former All-MEAC honorees in the top four positions of its lineup and won three of those matches to seal the team victory from positions 2, 3 and 4. The defending league champion Bulldogs are 3-6 overall and remained undefeated in the conference at 2-0.
 
Cucalon was the only NCCU player to get into the win column with another quality victory atop the Eagles roster. Cucalon knocked off senior Martin Figura – a two-time All-MEAC selection – in straight set scores of 6-2 and 6-4.
 
Cucalon, who is the reigning MEAC Player of the Week, has won five consecutive matches and is 6-3 on the season.
 
NCCU's only other win came in the middle doubles match. Sophomore Davide Callegari and freshman Theofanis Kontopoulos picked up that triumph by a 6-4 margin. Callegari and Kontopoulos just started playing together last week and are an undefeated duo at 4-0.
 
The Bulldogs won the No. 3 doubles match 6-2, but then needed to squeak out a 7-5 win on court one over Cucalon and freshman Maksym Konovalov to earn the first team point.
 
All-MEAC honorees in junior No. 2 Vladyslav Yanchenko, junior No. 3 Jakub Vitek and senior No. 4 Soufiane Mouline won their respective matches in straight sets to clinch the South Carolina State team victory. The Bulldogs then won the final two matches of the day to win by five.
 
NCCU (2-7 Overall, 0-1 MEAC) will next host Longwood University on Sunday, March 5 at 1 p.m.