GREENBRIER, W. Va.. -- The Mercyhurst University men's tennis team had one of its better outings of the season, but was unable to capture the elusive first win, falling to Bluefield State 6-3.  The loss dropped the Lakers' record to 0-5.

Keith Whittingham continued his stellar performance by defeating Shikar Kapur, who entered the match ranked #35 throughout all of Division II, in the extra frames of singles match No. 1 6-1, 4-6, 10-6.  Fellow teammate Jorn van der Veer would pick up Mercyhurst's only other singles victory  with a default win in the No. 2 singles match over #26 Vlad Catlan.

Afterwards, Whittingham and van der Veer teamed up to acquire the Lakers' lone triumph in doubles play, winning the No. 1 doubles match 9-8 over #9 Vlad Catlan and Niklas Sparr.

Mercyhurst will return to action on February 27 for an 11 a.m. match against Shaw University.

Singles competition
1. Keith Whittingham (MC-M) def. #35 S. Kapur (BSC-M) 6-1, 4-6, 10-6
2. Jorn van der Veer (MC-M) def. # 26 V. Catlan (BSC-M) by default
3. P. Kruk (BSC-M) def. Mauricio Canton (MC-M) 6-1, 6-1
4. C. Pickering (BSC-M) def. Eric Drusko (MC-M) 6-0, 6-0
5. N. Sparr (BSC-M) def. Mike Vinopal (MC-M) 6-2, 6-2
6. G. Sreeram (BSC-M) def. Dylan Weisner (MC-M) 6-2, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Keith Whittingham/Jorn van der Veer (MC-M) def. #9 V. Catlan/N. Sparr (BSC-M) 9-8
2. S. Kapur/C. Pickering (BSC-M) def. Eric Drusko/Mike Vinopal (MC-M) 8-3
3. P. Kruk/G. Sreeram (BSC-M) def. Kyle Hosier/Kamil Kepka (MC-M) 8-3

Match Notes
Mercyhurst University 0-5; Regional ranking #9
Bluefield State 4-0; Regional ranking #1