ORLANDO, Fla. – The Ursinus College men's tennis team resumed its doubles dominance in a pair of matches on Wednesday, but Ave Maria came out on top in several tightly contested singles matches to hand the Bears their first loss of the season.

Ursinus 8, King's 1

The Bears made easy work of the doubles courts, conceding a total of four games over three matches. Sophomore Connor DeFaber-Schumacher and freshman Matt Fontanese started the sweep with an 8-2 win at number three, and senior Peter Shields and sophomore Mason Groff rolled on with an 8-0 shutout at number two. Senior Max Oberholtzer and junior Paul Vecchio polished off doubles play with an 8-2 victory over Nathan Carl and Tyler Millian on the first court.

With Oberholtzer sitting out singles play, Groff moved into the number one slot for the first time. The rookie looked right at home, dominating Carl by a 6-0, 6-0 for his second double bagel of the season.

Shields succeeded Groff with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Terry Briggs at number three before Millian put King's on the board by outlasting Vecchio in a third-set super tiebreaker on the second court.

Fontanese bested Austin Mackey in a tight first set and controlled play after that for a 7-5, 6-2 result at number four. Junior Jake Lachowicz pulled out a 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 marathon against Cameron Tuck at fifth singles, and freshman Kyle Bookman notched a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Jason Homschek at sixth singles.

Ave Maria 6, Ursinus 3

Ursinus acquitted itself well against the NAIA Gyrenes, but a pair of third-set super tiebreakers went the wrong way in the team's first loss of the season.

Doubles continued to be a bright spot as the Bears captured two of the three courts. Groff and Shields downed Nicholas Hofmeister and Brandon Valley, 8-4, at number two, and Oberholtzer and Vecchio prevailed in a tiebreaker against Sebastian Ramirez and David Zuleta at number one.

The Bears are now 14-1 in doubles play in dual matches this season.

DeFaber-Schumacher was the lone Bear to win in singles play, securing a 7-5, 6-1 triumph over Davin Hanton on the fifth court.

Ave Maria won in three sets at number two and number four, coming from a set down on both courts.

With two more wins on the day, Oberholtzer moved into sole possession of fourth on the all-time program charts with 67 wins.

Up Next

The Bears close out their Florida trip against Merchant Marine on Thursday.