ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst men's tennis team came back from an early deficit to defeat non-conference opponent West Virginia Wesleyan, 4-3, on Saturday at Westwood Racquet Club. The matchup was between two regionally-ranked squads: MU is No. 2 in the Atlantic while WVWC is No. 3.

The Lakers fell behind in doubles play, dropping all three matches to face a 1-0 deficit heading into singles action. From that point, MU won 4 of 6 singles contests, culminating with Arseniy Sklyarov's match-clinching victory at No. 5 singles.

Cormac McCooey got Mercyhurst started at No. 1 singles with a 6-2, 6-2, win against Lukas Laipold to even the match score at 1-1.

WVWC regained the lead at 2-1 before the Lakers battled back with the next two points. Unai Amilleta Gonzalez won at No. 3 singles over Maycon Santos Dias, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Sebastian Pardo defeated Charalampos Simaioforidis, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, at fourth singles.

West Virginia Wesleyan evened the match at 3-3 before Sklyarov outlasted Alex Lyudinovskiy, 4-6, 7-6 (10), 6-4. Sklyarov saved himself -- and the team -- on multiple match points in the second set.

The Lakers (7-2) will return to action on Tuesday with an 11 a.m. non-conference home match against Roberts Wesleyan.



Mercyhurst 4, West Virginia Wesleyan 3
D1: Carlos Dodero / Maycon Santos Dias (W) def. Cormac McCooey / Unai Amilleta Gonzalez 6-4
D2: Charalampos Simaioforidis / Christos Kyrillou (W) def. Arseniy Skylarov / Ruairidh Fraser 6-2
D3: Lukas Laipold / Thomas McIntosh (W) def. Felix Schmedding / Sebastian Pardo 6-4
S1: Cormac McCooey (M) def. Lukas Laipold 6-2, 6-2
S2: Carlos Dodero (W) def. Ruairidh Fraser 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
S3: Unai Amilleta Gonzalez (M) def. Maycon Santos Dias 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-2
S4: Sebastian Pardo (M) def. Charalampos Simaioforidis 6-4, 5-7, 6-1
S5: Arseniy Skylarov (M) def. Alex Lyudinovskiy 4-6, 7-6(10), 6-4
S6: Thomas McIntosh (W) def. Felix Schmedding 6-3, 0-6, 6-2

Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,2,3,4,6,5)