DAHLONEGA - The No. 11 University of North Georgia men's tennis team secured a tightly contested 4-3 victory over Lincoln Memorial on Sunday at the UNG Tennis Complex at Yahoola Creek, using a decisive singles order to outlast the Railsplitters.

North Georgia claimed the early advantage by winning the doubles point, taking two of three matches with courts finishing in the order of 2, 3, 1.

João Luis Silva and Ben Brandl opened doubles play with a commanding 6-2 victory at No. 2 doubles to give UNG early momentum. Franco Rebora and Marcos Castellanos followed shortly after, earning a 6-4 win on court three to clinch the doubles point. The No. 1 doubles match between Juan Cruz Blanco and Pedro Liborio and LMU's Sergio Sebastian Aranzeta Boneta and Victor Bourguignon finished tied at 6-6 and went unfinished after the point was decided.

Singles play proved tightly contested, but North Georgia built its winning total through the early finishing courts.

Liborio quickly extended the Nighthawks' lead with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 1 singles, the first match off the court. Lincoln Memorial answered with a win at No. 2 singles, trimming the deficit before Brandl restored control for UNG with a decisive 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles.

With the order of finish unfolding as 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6, Castellanos delivered the match-clinching point at No. 3 singles, earning a 7-5, 6-2 victory to secure North Georgia's fourth team point and the overall win.

Lincoln Memorial claimed the final two matches at No. 5 and No. 6 singles in three-set battles, narrowing the final margin to 4-3, but the outcome had already been decided in favor of the Nighthawks.

North Georgia returns to action March 2, hosting Carson-Newman at the UNG Tennis Complex at Yahoola Creek.