FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Senior Brendan Kincaid came through with a three-set singles' victory to give No. 26 Salisbury University a thrilling 5-4 upset of Capital Athletic Conference and national power University of Mary Washington. The Sea Gulls (11-1, 3-0 CAC)  handed the No. 10 Eagles (11-5, 3-1 CAC) their first loss in conference in eight years.

The last time Salisbury defeated Mary Washington in the regular season was on April 16, 1999 when the maroon and gold pulled off a 4-3 victory. SU went on to win its fourth straight CAC championship, the last since the Eagles have won the past eight championships. The win over UMW is the first for SU coach Randy Halfpap in his eight seasons. The Sea Gulls are in line to earn the top-seed in the upcoming CAC tournament if they finish the rest of their conference schedule undefeated.

Salisbury, ranked No. 11 in the Atlantic South region, led Mary Washington 2-1 after doubles play as the Sea Gulls received huge points from No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Kincaid and sophomore Scott Burtzlaff, the No. 10 doubles team in the region, won 8-2 over Randy Loden and Kaz Murata, the third ranked doubles team in the region. Junior Matt Nicholson and sophomore Evan Thomas held their own at No. 2 doubles with a 8-3 win over Evan Goff and Bryce Parrish. The Eagles picked a point at No. 3 doubles with a 8-2 win by Jason Dunn and John James over sophomore Marcus Robinson and freshman Andrew Nottage.

Mary Washington, ranked second in the Atlantic South region, took the lead over Salisbury with wins at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 singles. Salisbury freshman David Lupinetti came up with a point at No. 5 singles as he defeated Eric Sundstrom 6-3, 6-4. The Sea Gulls tied the match at four apiece when junior Sasha Felikson staved off elimination twice to win 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) at No. 6 singles against Rob Emig.

With the score tied the match focused on the No. 2 singles showdown between Kincaid, ranked No. 13 in the region, against Loden, the top player in the region and last ranked No. 5 in the country. Loden won the first set 7-6 with an 8-6 tiebreaker. Kincaid, who only has a left arm, rallied to win the second and third sets 7-5, 6-3.

This was a big week for the Salisbury men's tennis team as it found out it was ranked for the first time in eight years, then hosted and defeated No. 20 Christopher Newport University 7-2 on Thursday and capped off with this upset of No. 10 Mary Washington.

The Sea Gulls will look to move a step closer to earning the CAC top-seed as they host Villa Julie College and Wesley College in an afternoon doubleheader on Sunday, March 30, at 12:30 p.m.