MURFREESBORO, NC- The Chowan University men's tennis team picked up a 5-1 victory at the NCAA DII Men's Tennis Atlantic Region II Tournament final over West Virginia Wesleyan College to advance to the NCAA Round of 16. The 48 team field has been narrowed down to 16 teams from all over the nation. The Hawks improve to a 16-7 overall record while the Bobcats dropped to a 17-7 on the season with the setback.  

In doubles competition, at the number one doubles play Adi Kaliakperov and Farid Hajizada defeated Nathon Sabate and Alexader Lyudinovskiy 8-2 while, Rafael Goncalves and Louis Proulx beat Ferran Begra and Jacobo Rendon 8-2 at the number three doubles. The Bobcats, Ramon Rodriquez and Pedro Nassar secured the number two doubles with a 8-5 win over Mariano Yeh and Mateusz Izycki.

The Hawks led 2-1 heading into singles play. Hajizada picked up the number two singles position (6-1, 6-3) over Rodriquez while Kaliakperov grabbed the number one singles match (6-4, 6-2) for the Blue and White.  With Chowan leading West Virginia Wesleyan 4-1, only needing one more point to win in clichéd play. The Hawks secured the 5-1 win at the sixth singles match when Louis Proulx beat Thomas McIntosh (6-4, 6-0).

Head Coach Christian Stambaugh stated "This was a magnificent accomplishment. This took a lot of work. This is the hardest working team I've ever coached." 

The Hawks will advance to the  NCAA D2 Championship in Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida, May 9th-13th.They will play the #1 seed out of the Midwest Region, Ferris State University on May 9th at Sanlando Park.