SAINT LEO, Fla. – The No. 2 Saint Leo men's tennis team opened the 2017 spring season with a high-profile win as they took down No. 4 Lander University, 5-4, in a thriller at the Saint Leo Tennis Courts on Sunday afternoon.

After falling behind 2-1 in doubles play, Saint Leo would need strong singles play to get them the victory.

After the No. 1 pairing of Thomas Grinberg and Vincent Suillerot topped Marc Hofer and Omar El Moslemany, 8-5, Lander earned their first two points by gaining wins at No. 3 doubles with an 8-2 win, and then at No. 2 doubles, LU's David Korsten and Eirik Groner battled with Saint Leo's Oskar Nurmio and Jaime Bueno.

Bueno and Nurmio entered the spring season as the No. 8 doubles pair in the nation, but Korsten and Groner were too much, as the Lander pair took the point in the tiebreak, 7-5.

The Lions evened the match score at 2-2 as Grinberg earned the win by default as Krosten could not finish the match in the first set.

Saint Leo earned points at No. 2 and 3 singles with Suillerot taking No. 2, 6-3, 6-1 over Lander's Jules Vauthier, and Jaime Bueno taking No.3 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Ozan Cildir. However, Lander took the No. 4 and 5 position points to bring it to a 4-4 tie with the match win riding on the No. 6 singles match.

Saint Leo freshman Charles Benet dropped the opening set, 4-6, to El Moslemany, before bouncing back to take the second set, 6-4. In the third and deciding set, Benet trailed 2-3 before breaking the serve and gaining a 4-3 advantage. From there the rookie was able to control the match, and he sealed his team's victory with a win of his own.

The Lions return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 8 with a 3 p.m. match against Florida Tech for their Sunshine State Conference opener.