CARY, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University men's tennis team left the 2024 MEAC Round-Up on Sunday with a 3-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference record after defeating Howard University 5-2. Juniors Hugo Hidalgo Vega and Oliver Saarinen and redshirt freshman Lucas Artigas won every singles match that they competed in during the three-match stretch.

NCCU (6-10, 3-0 MEAC) started off hot winning every doubles match to earn the first point. Saarinen and sophomore Kareem Abdul Hakim battled in a 7-5 victory over their opponents in No.1 Doubles. Hidalgo Vega and freshman Leo Fortier-Gariepy were victorious 6-2 in No.2 Doubles. Sophomores Naresh Bharathy and Neiman Sneed fought for a 7-6 victory over the Bison after a 7-4 tiebreaker win in No.3 Doubles.

Saarinen was the first to complete his match winning a pair of 6-1 sets in No.5 Singles. Bharathy prevailed in No.4 Singles 6-4, 6-1 and Hidalgo Vega secured his seventh singles victory in a row with a 6-1, 6-0 triumph in No.1 Singles.

Artigas' match was the last to finish for a second straight day as he was pushed to a tiebreaker set again. Both players split each set 7-5 with Artigas clinching the final point for the Eagles in a 10-6 tiebreaker win.

Howard (3-9, 0-3 MEAC) won their two points in singles. Abdul Hakim retired his match in No.2 Singles and Fortier-Gariepy dropped a tiebreaker set 10-5 finishing the first two sets 7-6, 1-6.

The Eagles are back on the court on Thursday, March 28 traveling to Longwood University to face the Lancers at 2 p.m.

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