Harrogate, TN - The #19 UC men's tennis team opened their spring season winning three singles matches, however, it wasn't enough as they fell to NCAA DII Lincoln Memorial University 4-3, Thursday afternoon.  It was the first of two matches this season against NCAA opponents as the Patriots move to 1-2 overall on the season. 
 
Lincoln Memorial secured the first doubles win at #2 with a 6-0 win.  UC responded at #1 doubles as Hung-Ju Wu and Martin Muller pulled out a 6-1 win over William Jonsson and Franco Battaglino to even the doubles at 1-1.  The Railsplitters ultimately won the doubles point and took a 1-0 lead after a 6-3 win at #3 doubles.
 
LMU extended their lead to 3-0 lead after wins at #3 and #1 singles before Cumberlands began to make a stand.  UC grabbed their first point of the day with a win at #2 with Mattis Le Montagner defeating Akhil Malik. The match went back-and-forth before Le Montagner pulled out the first set 7-6, before taking a 6-3 win in the second, cutting the score to 3-1.
 
The Patriots cut into the lead again as Lucas Augotr and Quinten Villetorte both rallied to win at #6 and #4 singles. Augotr won his first set 6-2, before Sebastian Aranzeta took the second 6-3 to force a tie breaker, which the freshman won 10-5 to cut the deficit to 3-2. Following this, Villetorte dropped his first set 6-4, but battled back to claim the second set 7-5 and forced a decisive third set. The junior was in control of the third set as he took it 10-2 and tied up the match at 3-3.
 
Finally, Wu found himself with a tough matchup at #5 singles as he faced off against Florent Geenjaar. The two players traded points throughout the first set, however, the junior ultimately fell in straight sets as the Railsplitters secured the 4-3 win. 
 
Cumberlands will look to rebound in their next contest as they are set to host Bluefield on February 19th.  The is the Patriots home opener and first serve is set for 1 p.m. 
 
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