DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia men's tennis team earned its first ranked win over the year Friday in a hotly contested 4-3 victory over No. 16 Auburn Montgomery. 

The lone UNG doubles win was not an easy one for senior Joaquin Benoit and junior Robin Eldin. The pair had to take down Warhawk sophomores Giuseppe Bonaiuti and Alex Verdasco. The match went to a decisive tiebreaker as the two duos were tied 6-6 in the first 12 sets. Benoit and Eldin pulled out the victory 7-2 in the tiebreakers set to earn the lone doubles win for the Nighthawks. 

In the singles portion, No. 22 Benoit cruised to an easy win in the No. 1 singles match, defeating AUM graduate student Joao Guariente 6-3, 6-0.

UNG would win three of the first four singles matches as Eldin took down graduate student Titouan Le Maout in the final two sets after losing the opener. Eldin barely lost a close first set 7-6, dropping the tiebreaker 7-5. He came back and breezed through the final two sets 6-3, 6-1. 

Senior Giulo Sassi also won his match against sophomore Giuseppe Bonaiuti after dropping the first set. Sassi lost the first 6-1, but turned around and took down Bonaiuti 6-1 and 6-2 in the last two sets. 

Sophomore Eliseo Alcalde was the clincher for UNG winning his match over sophomore Agustin Marquez 7-6, 6-0 to seal the win over the No. 16 team in the country. 

In all, the Nighthawks won four of the six singles matches to claim the 4-3 victory. 

UNG will remain at home for its next match as the Nighthawks welcome Lincoln Memorial to the UNG Tennis Complex at Yahoola Creek on Monday, Feb. 26 at 11 a.m.