CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Making the program's first appearance at the NCAA Doubles National Championship in 10 years, a pair of Christopher Newport juniors battled hard to force a third set, but fell in the opening round of competition on Thursday afternoon. Justin Cerny and David Reed suffered a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 loss in the first round of the 2017 championship event, wrapping up a banner season for the Christopher Newport men's tennis program. 

Playing at the Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the CNU veteran tandem was facing off against Carthage College's Herman Abban and Pawel Jaworski. The Big Red duo came into the match ranked No. 3 in the Central Region, carrying a 32-3 overall record into the match. Taking the courts at 4:30 pm, the championship format for doubles follows best-of-three set scoring rules, marking the first time all year the Captains were not playing under pro-set rules in doubles play. 

In the opening set, Abban and Jaworski managed to pull away for a 6-2 victory, but the Captains answered with a dominant effort of their own in the second to win 6-3. One of only four matches on the first day to extend to three sets, it was the Carthage pair that managed to pull away for the win, 6-3, in the third and clinching set. 

Making just the fourth ever appearance by a Christopher Newport doubles team in the national championships, Cerny and Reed finished up the season with a 15-9 overall record, ranked No. 2 in the Atlantic South Region.

The Captains' junior pair were an integral factor in one of the team's most successful seasons all-time. Christopher Newport picked up the program's highest ever national ranking, and would go on to win their first Capital Athletic Conference Championship. In the NCAA Tournament for just the second time, the Captains managed a 5-0 win over Franciscan in the first round, before ultimately falling to Johns Hopkins University in the second.

- - - - - - - - - - Press Release Courtesy of Christopher Newport Athletic Communications - - - - - - - - -