AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria men's tennis team defeated NCAA DII Eckerd College 7-2 on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Gyrenes fell to Eckerd 9-0 in their match. Prior to the start of the matches, AMU recognized lone senior Brian Schmidt.
 
On the men's side, AMU jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles play. Ave Maria got the first two points with wins by Brandon Valley and Nicholas Hofmeister, 8-1, at two-doubles and a win by Cesar Menacho and Brian Schmidt, 8-3, at three doubles. Eckerd took the final point in doubles play 8-6 at one-doubles.
 
In singles play, Sebastian Ramirez got AMU its first singles points in the first position, 6-4, 6-3. Hofmeister put AMU one point away from clinching the match at four-singles when he won 6-1, 6-1. Eckerd won the two-singles match in two sets to make the score 4-2. Senior Brian Schmidt clinched the match at three-singles with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-3 win.
 
AMU won the final two singles points to take the match 7-2. Menacho won at six-singles 6-0, 6-3 and Davin Hanton won at five-singles 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
 
The men's tennis team finish the regular season with a 9-5 record. They return to action on April 19 when they take on top-seed Keiser in The Sun Conference Tournament hosted by Coastal Georgia.
 
On the women's side, Averie Harkey and Amanda Grebosky fell at one-doubles 8-1 while Camila Branstner and Colleen Herrmann fell at two-doubles 8-0. In singles play, Grebosky dropped one-singles 6-2, 6-0 and Branstner fell at two-singles 6-1, 6-1. At three-singles, Herrmann was defeated 6-2, 6-1. Eckerd's number four player topped Harkey 6-0, 6-0 at four-singles and Therese Sadusky wrapped up the scoring at five=singles, falling 6-0, 6-1.
 
The Lady Gyrenes finish the season with a 3-9 overall record.