BOCA RATON, Fla. - The men's tennis team competed well, but still failed to make a dent in a strong Florida Atlantic squad today, falling 7-0 to the Sun Belt team.  It was a day of missed opportunities for the Owls (5-9), who dropped their fourth straight match.  Several players had chances in the singles, but the experience of the Florida Atlantic squad (6-3) proved too much to handle.

The doubles was a routine affair for the Owls of FAU, as they won comfortably at all three positions after KSU had opportunities early in each of the three matches.  The No. 2 doubles team of Michael Langel and Simon Janik, who played despite a hip injury, raced to a 3-1 lead.  Their opponents dominated the match after that point, however, reeling off seven straight games for an 8-3 victory.  The other two KSU teams both fell by an 8-4 count.

In the singles, Tyler Mills rebounded well from a rough outing the day before against Florida Gulf Coast for the most intriguing matchup of the day, a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) loss to Ervin Garibovic.  Elliot Kahler also had many opportunities in his match, serving for the set three separate times before falling in two tiebreakers.

"We have to learn how to close out tight matches," commented head coach T.J. Greggs. "We continue to struggle when things get close, and we have to be more assertive in those situations."

The Owls will take some time off before returning to the court on March 19 when they face off with the University of North Florida at the KSU Tennis Center.  Match time is set for 2:00 p.m. and parking is available for fans in the East Parking Deck on the KSU campus.

Results:

Florida Atlantic 7, Kennesaw State 0

Doubles
1) Harradine/Matschke (FAU) def. Elliot Kahler/Tyler Mills (KSU) 8-4
2) Madon/Scholl (FAU) def. Simon Janik/Michael Langel (KSU) 8-3
3) Braunworth/Garibovic (FAU) def. Justin Suesserman/Gokalp Ozdemir (KSU) 8-4

Singles:
1) Lawrence Harradine (FAU) def. Gokalp Ozdemir (KSU) 6-0, 6-1
2) Ervin Garibovic (FAU) def. Tyler Mills (KSU) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
3) Joshua Scholl (FAU) def. Gianni Kubin (KSU) 6-4, 6-3
4) Derek Madon (FAU) def. Michael Langel (KSU) 6-3, 6-3
5) Matthew Braunworth (FAU) def. Elliot Kahler (KSU) 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5)
6) Georg Matschke (FAU) def. Ryan Bouttell (KSU) 6-4, 6-3