GREENWOOD, S.C. – The No. 25 University of North Georgia (UNG) men's tennis team picked up its biggest win of the season with a thrilling 4-3 road victory at No. 24 Lander in Greenwood, S.C. Friday afternoon.

The win over the Bearcats (11-4, 2-2 Peach Belt) is UNG's (8-4, 2-1 Peach Belt) most impressive of the season as it's the program's first win over a top 10 opponent this season and first ranked road win since March 29, 2023. 

The Nighthawks were able to pull out the close victory thanks to an amazing comeback effort in singles play. 

After dropping the doubles portion of the match with losses in the #1 and #3 contests, UNG had it's back against the wall heading into singles against the 10th-ranked Bearcats. UNG entered Friday with a 1-3 record when losing the doubles point this season.

Trailing 1-0 in the overall match, Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) men's singles No. 61 and senior Robin Eldin quickly evened the contest with a 6-2, 6-4 win in #2 singles.

Freshman Juan Cruz Blanco then put the Nighthawks in front with a huge 6-3, 7-5 win in the #4 singles match.

Lander tied things up at 2-2 with a 6-3, 6-3 victory from Max Barriere in the #5 match. However, sophomore Marcos Castellanos shined by taking down Brendan Jayaprakash 7-5, 6-2 in #6 singles to make it 3-2.

Over in #1 singles, men's singles No. 18 and junior Pedro Liborio was in the throes of an intense match against No. 70 Harry Pugh. 

Pugh took the first set 6-3 and forced Liborio to battle back in the second set with a 6-3 win of his own. In the third, Liborio needed a win to clinch the match for the Nighthawks. 

At the same time, freshman Franco Rebora had fallen behind 2-6 in the first set of the #3 singles showdown. Rebora eventually fought back and took the second set 6-3 to even the match. Either Liborio or Rebora could clinch the victory with a win in the third set.

Rebora's match remained close, but Liborio began to assert his dominance over Pugh in the singles headliner of the day. 

The junior snatched the victory from the Bearcats with a 6-3 win in the third set, clinching the match and victory for UNG. 

Liborio (7-3) is now tied with Eldin (7-3) and Castellanos (7-4) for the most singles wins on the season. 

The squad showed impressive grit and determination in pulling out the victory despite losing the doubles point early. 

Since losing the first match of the season at LMU, the Nighthawks are 5-0 on the road this year. 

They'll look to ride the momentum from Friday's massive win as they now gear up for a neutral-site match with West Alabama. The contest from Rome, Ga. begins Tuesday, April 8 at 2 p.m.