NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Salisbury University men's tennis team suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of No. 27 Christopher Newport University in the Capital Athletic Conference semifinals on Wednesday afternoon.

The third-seeded Sea Gulls earned their point on the day at No. 1 doubles where seniors Eric Spangler and Shanon Gunther – ranked No. 5 in the Atlantic South Region – won an 8-6 match over second-seeded Christopher Newport's pair of Chiraag Shetty and Steven Boslet, the No. 4 ranked team in the region.

While Salisbury could pick up just the one point, sophomore Kelson Weber and freshman Andrew Rainger nearly grabbed a win at No. 3 doubles, falling 9-8 (7-3). Juniors Grant Hudson and Michael Popielski fell 8-1 at No. 2 doubles.

The Captains got their final three points in the lower-three spots in the order, with Rainger falling 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6, while Weber and Popielski dropped 6-0, 6-0 decisions at No. 4 and 5, respectively.

The other three matches in singles, which all went unfinished, were close at the time the match came to an end. Spangler, at No. 1, earned the first set in his match against David Reed, 6-2, but got no further.

Gunther, at No. 2, and Hudson, at No. 3, each fell in the opening set, 6-3 and 6-4, respectively. The Sea Gulls (10-9) were each down just one game with Gunther trailing 5-4 and Hudson down 4-3 in the second sets of their matches.