ORLANDO, Fla. – The Ursinus College men's tennis team finished up its Florida trip on Thursday afternoon, nearing defeating regionally-ranked Coe College in a 5-3 loss.

The Bears, who entered the match with a 4-0 mark, battled the Kohawks (13-1) to the brink in the marathon, three hour and 45 minute watch.

"I'm so proud of these kids," said Ursinus head coach Pete Smith afterwards. "To battle a regionally-ranked program shows how hard they have worked in the off-season and really shows the drive and determination our players have."

The match started off with singles play first, with Ursinus freshman Evan Stuchin (Cape Coral, Fla./Canterbury School) defeating Victor Khristenko at number one flight by a score of 5-7, 7-6 (9-7) and 6-2. The flight nearly took as long as the match, as the two foes battled for just over three hours.

Freshman Brent Stevenson (Coopersburg, Pa./Southern Lehigh) defeated Jonathan Roger at number four flight by a score of 6-1, 6-4.

Down 4-2 after doubles play, the team of freshman Matt Hope (Wyomissing, Pa./Wilson) and freshman Dylan Marsh (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) quickly fell behind by a 5-2 score in their match at number three flight before rallying to win by a 9-8 score, outscoring Sean Stokstad and Mike Janssen 8-6 in the tiebreaker.

The match ended after second flight, as the outcome of the match was already decided.

Ursinus returns north and will take on Immaculata on Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.