NASHVILLE – The Tennessee State men's tennis team dominated North Carolina Central on Thursday afternoon, 5-2. It was the second home victory of the year for TSU.
 
In the double's competition, the Tigers' pairing of Nil Moinet and Diego Britt-Alvarez swept NCCU in timely fashion, 6-0, on court three. However, the Eagles secured the point after 6-3 victories on courts one and two.
 
TSU owned the singles portion of the match, earning straight-set victories on five of six courts. On court six, Britt-Alvarez handled LaQuon Gilchrist in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2. The sophomore from Naples, Florida has won three individual matches this year, all in straight sets.
 
Leandros Misdrachis earned his second victory in the last three matches with a 6-4, 7-6 (7) result on court four. The senior from Larissa, Greece has only played in two tiebreakers this season and earned his first tie-break victory over NCCU's Oliver Saarinen.
 
Moinet, a junior from Guadeloupe, registered a straight set win over Amit Baran on court three, 6-2, 6-2. It was the first match this season in which Moinet won his singles and doubles competition.
 
On court five, Pierre Copin battled in a two-set victory over Shaka Cristellotti, 6-4, 7-5. The French native has played on court three in six matches this year; this was the first opportunity in the fifth slot and resulted in his third win of the season.
 
In the most colorful match of the afternoon, emotions ran high in a matchup between Daniel Perez-Caraballo and the Eagles' Sebastian Pino. Prior to NCCU, Pino was ranked as the No. 35 individual in the NJCAA circuit at Barton CC in Kansas. Perez-Caraballo took down the seasoned player from Venezuela, 7-6 (7), 6-1. TSU's freshman from Spain controlled the second-set as he took a five-game lead to begin the set.
 
This was the first NCAA victory for first-year head coach, Todd Smith.