NORFOLK, Va. – North Carolina Central's men's tennis team opened the MEAC Round-Up with a dominant 7-0 sweep over Morgan State on Saturday evening at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.

NCCU (9-6, 2-0 MEAC) secured the doubles point in a tight contest. Morgan State opened with a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles, but Pol Puig Montiel and Leo Fortier-Gariepy answered with a 6-2 victory at No. 3. The deciding match came at No. 1 doubles, where Rodrigo Alves and Kareem Abdul Hakim prevailed in a 7-3 tiebreaker, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

From there, NCCU controlled the match, winning all six singles matches. Naresh Bharathy led the way at No. 1 singles with a pair of 6-2 victories. Alves and Abdul Hakim followed with hard-fought three-set wins.

Santiago Pinna earned a 6-4, 7-5 victory at No. 4 singles, while fellow freshman Puig Montiel added a 6-2, 6-2 win in the No. 6 position.

Antoni Pankowski sealed the sweep in dramatic fashion in No. 5 singles. After dropping the opening set, he responded with a 6-3 second-set win before clinching the match with a 12-10 victory in a 10-point tiebreaker.

Morgan State (5-8, 0-1 MEAC) saw its two-match winning streak snapped as the Eagles completed the shutout.

NCCU will face Coppin State on Sunday, March 29 at 2 p.m. in its final match of the Round-Up.

For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com.