FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - The University of Mary Washington men's tennis dominance continued Thursday evening as the No. 17 Eagles hoisted their 10th straight Capital Athletic Conference championship plaque into the air. UMW defeated No. 29 Salisbury University with an 8-1 victory over the runner-up Sea Gulls.

For the past decade the Eagles have been perched atop the CAC as the Sea Gulls had to settle for another second-place finish. Salisbury last won the CAC championship in 1999 which ended a four-year title run for the maroon and gold. This is the 16th conference championship for Mary Washington since the conference began back in 1991.

Salisbury (14-7), ranked seventh in the Atlantic South region, scored the first point of the match at second doubles as sophomore Andrew Nottage and freshman Daniel Barnas defeated UMW pair Evan Goff and Bryce Parrish 8-5. The first singles match featured two of the top doubles pairs in the region. Salisbury junior tandem Scott Burtzlaff and Evan Thomas, ranked fourth in the region, went up against Eagle pair Randy Loden and Kaz Murata, ranked seventh. The Eagles pair doubled up the Sea Gulls, 8-4, to knot the match at one apiece. SU had a chance to make a move and swing some momentum heading into singles play. Junior Marcus Robinson and sophomore David Lupinetti jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead over UMW's John James and Jason Dunn at third doubles. The Salisbury pair increased the lead to 7-4 before the Eagles rallied. UMW forced a tiebreaker and won 7-3 to take the 9-8 victory and give the Eagles a huge 2-1 lead heading into singles.

Mary Washington (18-10), ranked fourth in the region, went to work in singles as the Eagles won five of the six opening sets. Goff was the first to finish at sixth singles as he won 6-2, 6-1 over SU senior Sasha Felikson. UMW picked up another point at fifth singles as Murata rallied to win the first set 6-3 and then won the second set 6-2 over Nottage.

Down 4-1 Salisbury needed its top four players to come through with points to win the championship. The Sea Gulls were unable to win a point and only won two sets against the Eagles. Riley Baver clinched the championship for the Eagles as he defeated Barnas in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. At third singles, the match went three sets as Lupinetti won the first set 6-1 over Dunn but lost the second set 6-2 before the Gull dropped the tiebreaker 10-7. The final two matches featured Salisbury's top two players against two regionally ranked foes. Thomas went up against Loden, ranked 11th in the region, but lost in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. The final match was between Burtzlaff and James, ranked eighth in the region, lasted close to three hours as the pair battled through three sets. Burtzlaff won the first set 6-4 before James bounced back with a 6-4 second set win. The final set came down to the wire before James won 7-5 to conclude the four-hour CAC championship match.

The two teams met during the regular-season in Salisbury, Md., as the score was better for the Sea Gulls but the outcome was still the same as the Eagles won 7-2 on April 4. This was the seventh match for the Sea Gulls this season against nationally ranked opponents.

This is the sixth straight match victory for the Eagles as they will next prepare for the NCAA men's tennis national championships. The loss ends a four-match win streak for the maroon and gold as Salisbury will have to wait and see if its team and/or players will be selected to participate in the postseason.