MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- The Mercyhurst men's tennis team dropped a 5-4 decision to Bluefield State during Sunday's non-conference contest at West Virginia University. The match was contested between two Intercollegiate Tennis Association regionally-ranked squads; BSC is No. 1 in the Atlantic while MU is No. 3.

After falling behind 3-0 through doubles play, the Lakers battled back to win 4 of 6 singles matches, but ultimately fell short. Bluefield State clinched the match with a victory by Luke Busse over Mercyhurst's Sebastian Pardo in the No. 5 singles match.

The Big Blues took the first point at No. 2 doubles as Arthur Figuiere and Ignacio Pulido teamed for an 8-2 win against the Laker duo of Ruaridh Fraser and Unai Amilleta Gonzalez.

Alex Rudenco and Luke Busse added an 8-5 win at third doubles and then Giorgi Datashvili and Tom Schmieta completed the doubles sweep for BSC with a 9-8 (7-2) victory against Nenad Terzic and Cormac McCooey at No. 1 doubles.

Amilleta Gonzalez scored the only Mercyhurst point while the match was still live. In a matchup of regionally-ranked players from Spain, Amilleta Gonzalez (No. 17 Atlantic singles) earned a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, victory over Pulido (No. 14 Atlantic singles).

After that, the Blues wrapped up the match with points at Nos. 6 and 5 singles. Lorenzo Panariti defeated Veselic at sixth singles, 6-2, 6-4, and then Busse clinched the match with his 6-0, 4-6, 7-5, decision against Pardo.

After the clincher, Mercyhurst recorded three points. Fraser (No. 5 Atlantic singles) outlasted Rudenco (No. 7 Atlantic singles) at second singles; Terzic (No. 3 Atlantic singles) bested Figuiere on the top flight, 6-3, 6-4; and McCooey (No. 11 Atlantic singles) handled Datashvili (No. 2 Atlantic singles), 6-4, 6-3, at No. 3 singles.

Fraser and McCooey stretched individual win streaks to 13 wins each. They are both 14-1 in their last 15 singles matches while Amilleta Gonzalez is 13-1 in their last 14 singles matches. Amilleta Gonzalez is also on a nine-match winning streak.

The Lakers (14-2) will return to competition on Friday when they compete in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament against their semifinal opponent Bloomsburg. The predetermined site of PSACs is Bloomsburg.



Bluefield State 5, Mercyhurst 4
DOUBLES
1 - Datashvili/Schmieta (B) def. Terzic/McCooey, 9-8 (7-2)
2 - Figuiere/Pulido (B) def. Fraser/Amilleta Gonzalez, 8-2
3 - Rudenco/Busse (B) def. Sklyarov/Veselic, 8-5
SINGLES
1 - Terzic (M) def. Figuiere, 6-3, 6-4
2 - Fraser (M) def. Rudenco, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3)
3 - McCooey (M) def. Datashvili, 6-4, 6-3
4 - Amilleta Gonzalez (M) def. Puldio, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3
5 - Busse (B) def. Pardo, 6-0, 4-6, 7-5
6 - Panariti (B) def. Veselic, 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 2,3,1...4,6,5,2,1,3