LAKELAND, Fla. – No. 26 Saint Leo (12-7, 1-3 SSC) dropped its third consecutive Sunshine State Conference match Wednesday afternoon as they were nipped by the No.24-ranked Florida Southern College Moccasins, 5-4, from the FSC Courts in Lakeland.

Despite Saint Leo grabbing the opening point of the match in doubles, the Mocs battled back to take the final two on the team side, before collecting wins in four of six singles matches.

The nationally ranked duo of Matt Nicholson-Lewis and Victor Lozier got the Lions moving in the right direction as they dissected the Mocs’ top pair of Ivan Marevic and Brian deMontfort, 8-3.

Nearly pulling out a second point, the team of Pablo Chavez and Tom Gleeson dropped an 8-6 heartbreaker to Jorge Gutierrez and Nathan Leavitt at the No.3 position.

Chavez made the score 3-2 in facor of the Mocs as took Gutierrez in straight sets at the No.4 position 7-5, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Aloua Adjenak briefly tied the match as he rallied to take a three-set win over C.J. Johnson 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

Unfortunately, the Lions couldn’t maintain the pressure on the Mocs as they slithered by with a three-set win at No.1 as well as wins at the No.5 and 6 spots, solidifying the narrow FSC win.

Using each match as a learning experience, Head Coach James Bryce believes his men are still on the right track, “This was our first really close match we had all year. Even though the score didn't go in our favor, we learned some valuable lessons on the court today. We are now looking forward to Rollins Friday and the end of regular season play next week."

The Green & Gold will now await another perennial contender in the SSC, as Rollins will look to upend Saint Leo on the Lions home court on Friday, April. Opening serve is set for 3:00 p.m.