Mobile, Ala. - North Carolina Wesleyan wrapped up its men's tennis fall slate over the weekend as the doubles tandem of Alexey Rumyantsev and Robert Kjellberg competed in the ITA Small College National Championships in Mobile, Alabama. The senior/sophomore duo had previously qualified for nationals with their regional doubles championship two weeks ago.

Seeking the program's first national title, the 3rd-seeded Bishops opened play with a convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory over the Guzick brothers of Vasser College.  Up next came the top-seeded Chow/Meyer team of Williams College.  After dropping the first set 7-5, Rumyansev/Kjellberg bounced back for a 6-2 win in the second.  Tied at 1-1, Chow/Meyer fought to a 10-7 win in the third to advance to the championship, which they eventually won.

Rumyantsev/Kjellberg proceeded to drop into a 3rd-place match versus familiar opponents King/Shulman of rival Christopher Newport. Wesleyan cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory to seal up a 3rd-place finish.

The ITA Nationals followed last week's solid performance at Elon University's Fall Invitational. Competing against predominantly Division I competition, the Bishops faired well as Viktor Selander captured the B2 Singles Championship, Rinat Khussainov earned the C Singles Championship and Kjellberg won the B1 Singles Consolation Championship.

Having faced stiff competition over the course of the fall, the Bishops will now focus their attention on capturing a fourth straight USA South championship and NCAA Tournament berth in the spring.