ADRIAN, MI – The men's tennis team braved the icy conditions and traveled to Adrian, MI on Thursday and suffered a very tough loss to the Adrian Bulldogs (5-2).  The match score of 5-4 in favor of the Bulldogs could have gone either way as four of the singles matches went into extra sets, and all three doubles matches were very close as well.

The afternoon started with doubles play and Matt Wojtkowski and Jesse DeBoer paired together at @1 doubles and took that match 8-5 and John Hall and Aaron Laatsch won the #3 doubles by the same score.  Andrew Herlein and Michael Darling were edged out at #2 doubles 6-8.

The real drama began with the singles play and with the Cougars up 2-1 from the doubles, Adrian battled back with straight set wins at #1 and #2 singles to lead the match 3-2, but Jesse DeBoer got Spring Arbor back into a tie with a win at #3 singles with a thrilling 1-6, 7-5, 10-8 three set win over Michael Mertz.

Michael Darling lost a tough three set loss at #5 singles after winning the first set 6-1, the Bulldog's Alex Amos battled back and nipped Darling 6-4, 10-8 in sets two and three.  SAU trailed Adrian 3-4 with two matches remaining.

The remaining two matches, Drew Herlein (#4) and Andrew Fitzpatrick (#6) both went three sets and the Cougars needed both to capture the win.  Both of these matches were also the two closest of the entire day and Adrian's Troy Gargrave edged out Spring Arbor's Andrew Fitzpatrick 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 (39 games) to clinch the win for the Bulldogs.

Drew Herlein won the longest match of the day (40 games) with a dramatic 7-6 (11-9), 3-6, 10-8 win at four singles.

The loss drops Spring Arbor to 3-8 for the year, 0-2 this spring, and leaves just one more indoor match before the Cougars head to Hilton Head Island, SC for a four match spring break week.

Albion College will host Spring Arbor on Thursday, February 27 at 4:00 p.m. for the final scheduled indoor match of the year.