Box Score

KENNESAW, Ga. - The men's tennis team's postseason aspirations took a turn for the worse today, as they dropped a 5-2 decision to Belmont University at the KSU Tennis Complex.  An extremely close doubles match which slipped out of the Owls' grasp was followed by wins by Belmont at the top three singles positions, putting the match out of reach before the depth of KSU's lineup could even take the court.

Belmont (6-11, 2-7 A-Sun) were able to put out their full lineup for only the second time this season, having been besieged by injuries during the first half of the season.  Unfortunately for the Owls (7-13, 1-8 A-Sun), that strength at the top proved to be the difference in the match.

"We were all aware that Belmont was a much better team than their record indicated," commented head coach T.J. Greggs.  "To be as close as we were in doubles, and to have chances to win in four of the six singles matches showed we are on the way to being competitive in this very difficult conference."

In doubles, the team of Elliot Kahler and Tyler Mills swept aside Joao Paoliello and Felipe Lima, 8-5, to give the Owls the first victory of the day.  Almost simultaneously, however, the No. 1 and No. 3 matches fell the way of the Bruins, with the tightest match of the day being at No. 1 doubles, where Belmont was victorious, 8-6, in a match that featured 7 breaks of serve.

In singles, the Bruins dominated at No. 1 and No. 3 singles.  The last hope for the Owls to stay in the overall match was at No. 2 singles, where Tyler Mills fought hard but ultimately fell, 7-6(5), 6-2.  Mills had two set points in the first set, but both were waved away with winners by his opponent.

After the top three players had fallen, Belmont chose to stop their No. 4 and 5 players from finishing while trailing in both matches, giving two points to the Owls.

"It's really a shame that we weren't able to finish those two matches, as our players were playing very well," added Greggs.  "But I completely understand their situation this season with injuries, and there was no sense in them risking further injury today."

The final match on court featured Michael Langel fighting back from a break down in the second set to stretch his opponent to a deciding third set super tiebreak.  In the tiebreak, Lima came out on top, downing Langel by a final score of 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(8).

The Owls will return to the court for the final time on Tuesday, when they host the Mercer Bears at the KSU Tennis Complex.