BLUEFIELD, W. Va. (April 1, 2018) – Facing the 14^th ranked team in Division II, the Salem University Tigers men's tennis team put together a strong fight in a 9-0 loss to Bluefield State College.  

The Tigers took two of three doubles matches down to the wire. Gregor Lainer and Patryk Garwacki played a very tight doubles match at the No. 1 spot, losing 9-8 in a tiebreaker in front of a hostile crowd. And Landon Schultz-Zwahr and Ivan Arevalo went the distance as well, losing 8-6 in the third spot.

Bluefield State swept all six singles matches. 

"Our doubles today were great. We almost pulled out two wins in front of a very tough crowd," Head Coach Todd Tucker said. "Unfortunately, the guys lost a bit of energy for singles matches. We're still learning certain aspects of NCAA tennis but I'm very proud of our progress."

With the loss, the Tigers drop to 7-12 on the season and 4-8 on the road. Salem will resume action on April 6 with a road match against Lander University, the second ranked team in Division II.
 
Results

Doubles

Alexander Rudenco / Giorgi Datashvili (BSC) def. Patryk Garwack / Gregor Lainer (SU) 9-8 (7-4)
Ignacio Pulido / Arthur Figuriere (BSC) def. Carlos Padilla / Andres Padilla (SU) 8-0
Tom Schmieta / Luke Busse (BSC) def. Ivan Arevalo / Landon Schultz-Zwahr (SU) 8-6

Singles

Arthur Figuriere (BSC) def. Patryk Garwacki (SU) 6-3, 6-1
Alexander Rudenco (BSC) def. Gregor Lainer (SU) 8-2
Giorgi Datashvili (BSC) def. Ivan Arevalo (SU) 8-4
Ignacio Pulido (BSC) def. Andres Padilla (SU) 6-0, 6-0
Tom Schmieta (BSC) def. Landon Schultz-Zwahr (SU) 6-1, 6-2
Luke Busse (BSC) def. Carlos Padilla (SU) 6-0, 6-1