COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Just like the women did a few hours earlier, the Ursinus College men's tennis team gave powerhouse Johns Hopkins all it could handle before eventually succumbing to a 5-4 Centennial Conference defeat on the Floy Lewis Bakes Center's indoor courts.

Johns Hopkins (5-2, 3-1), the nine-time defending league champion, had already seen its 84-match CC run come to an end at the hands of Swarthmore earlier in the week, and Ursinus took a big swing at handing the Blue Jays an ultra-rare losing streak. Unfortunately, a sweep of doubles play – one match going to a tiebreaker – gave Johns Hopkins just enough of a cushion to stave off the Bears' upset bid.

Junior Chanton Phan and sophomore Peter Shields nearly prevented the sweep at third doubles, but the Blue Jays, who came in ranked 21^st in Division III and 4^th in the Atlantic South, were able to hold on for a 7-5 victory in the tiebreaker, putting the visitors three points ahead with singles play to come.

Ursinus (8-4, 0-4), which last defeated Johns Hopkins in 1991 and had been shut out in 17 of the last 20 meetings, took four of the six available singles points.

Sophomore Max Oberholtzer (6-0, 6-2) and senior Tyler Arsenault (6-1, 6-2) were dominant at first and second singles, respectively, and Shields coasted to a 6-1, 6-2 drubbing at number six, slicing the Hopkins lead to 4-3.

The Blue Jays clinched the match with a win at fourth singles before Vecchio took home a 6-2, 6-3 decision in the fifth flight for the Bears, who had not taken more than two points from Hopkins since that victory in 1991.

Oberholtzer improved to 10-2 in dual matches this spring, while Arsenault won his fourth straight singles match and now stands at 9-3.

Ursinus seeks its first CC win of the season when Washington College comes to the Bailey Courts on Tuesday, April 12.