CLAREMONT, Calif. -- The Christopher Newport senior doubles duo of David Reed and Justin Cerny captured a hard-fought first set, but suffered a three-set loss in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Tennis Doubles Championship on Thursday evening, falling to Caltech's Varun Shankar and James Wei. With the loss, the careers close on the Captains' accomplished duo, after reaching their second straight national championship event. 

The senior tandem suffered a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 loss in the opening round, marking one of just two first-round battles that were stretched to three sets. 

In the opening set, the Captains jumped out to a 3-1 lead with the first service break of the match, followed by a hold from Cerny. In that hold, the Captains saved at least three break points before Reed hammered home the winner on a forehand volley to give the Captains the win. CNU would close out the first set, 6-4, but Shankar and Wei, a rookie tandem that shot up the ITA rankings this season, answered with a 6-1 win in the second set. Rounding out the win for the Beavers duo was a 6-4 win, holding off every CNU comeback attempt as they tied the match at 1, 2, 3, and 4 before Caltech held and won the match on a break. 

The senior tandem is among the greatest partnerships in program history, marking just the second time a pairing has reached the NCAA Doubles Championship more than once in their careers. This season, Cerny and Reed combined for 14 wins in tandem play.