COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Saint Leo men’s tennis team (1-3) began their three match road trip to Georgia and Alabama on a bit of a sour note fell to the No.9-ranked Columbus State Cougars (4-0), 8-1, Friday afternoon from Blackmon Tennis Center.

Still, the final score did not reflect the level of competition on the court in this opening leg of three matches in three days.

The Lions found and early deficit in doubles as they dropped all three matches, including a pair of one point setbacks. The singles side featured the same type of intensity as the Lions saw all but one set secure a minimum of three points.

It was the Cougars’ duo of Pasqual Duttlinger and Andre Mordhorst who registered the first point of the match as they took down the Saint Leo pair of Aloua Adjenak and Pablo Chavez, 8-1. The next two matches could be considered instant classics. It was a tightly contested matchup at No.3 as the Lions’ team of Pablo Chavez and Tom Gleeson tested the skill of the No.22 ranked doubles team of Filip Cojbasic and Martin Shishkov, but was eventually edged late in the match, 9-7.

At No. 1, the 23rd-ranked pair of Matt Nicholson—Lewis and Victor Lozier were locked in a point-for-point struggle with the 12th-ranked tandem of Christophe Noblet and Gordan Divljak. Unfortunately, the Lions’ group could not pull off the upset as Cougars’ pair registered a one point, 9-8, win.

Going into singles 3-0, the Lions did claim one win, but not before the match was secured by Shishkov at No. 6 singles. In a series of close matches, the Lions saw victory at No. 2. as Lozier posted a three-set win over Mordhorst, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Although the Lions could not scrape together any more wins, Saint Leo saw only a couple point differential in the rest of their matches. Nicolson-Lewis fell, 7-5, 6-4 in a close match at No. 1 while Adjenak battled in one of the closest matches of the day at No. 3 dropping a pair of 7-6 sets.

In talking about the first of three matches this weekend, Head Coach James Bryce stated, “I believe we played really well today. And even though it wasn’t the outcome we wanted, we demonstrated our ability to go onto a hostile playing surface against a top-10 opponent and compete point-for-point with them. I look forward to getting back out on the court tomorrow.”

Tomorrow, February 26, the Lions will continue their road trip as they head to Tuskegee College for the second of their three regional contests.