AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's tennis team defeated their second top 40 team in the nation on Friday afternoon, rolling to a 4-1 victory over the Spirit of Ottawa University from Arizona. The Gyrenes won two of three doubles matches, then took three of the four completed singles matches to defeat the number two team out of the west coast-based Golden State Athletic Conference.

Ave Maria took the doubles point thanks to victories at the number one and number three positions. AMU's top team of Sebastian Grijalva and Fernando Orihuela won 6-4 at the top spot, and Guilherme Bento and Carlos Thireau earned victory by the same score. Ottawa did win the number two doubles match, as Liam Spiers and Bryce Bodak defeated Felipe Amorim and Tom Alias, 6-3.

Fernando Orihuela earned Ave Maria's biggest individual win of the day with a victory over Ottawa's nationally ranked number two player, Liam Spiers. Orihuela rallied from a 6-4 first set defeat to the No. 46 player in the country, and won the second two sets by scores of 6-4. In addition to his national ranking, Spiers entered the match as the No. 7 player in the west region by the NAIA.

Sebastian Grijalva added a 2-0 day of his own, winning his match at the third position in straight sets. The St. Mary's College transfer battled to a 7-5 win over Bryce Bodak in the first set, then rolled to a 6-1 victory in the second. Guilherme Bento supplied the clinching point for the Gyrenes with a win at the fourth spot. Bento dominated over Goor Adiv in the first set, 6-1, then battled out a 7-6 tiebreaker win to lock up the needed fourth point.

With Ottawa playing two matches on the day, the match was called with two matches to play. AMU's Tom Alias was on his way to a win at the number six spot, leading Gianmarco Pitotti 6-3, 4-1. The number five singles match was in the third set, with Michael Loyd leading Carlos Thireau, 3-0, following a 2-6, 6-4 split in the first two sets. Ottawa's lone win was logged by Austin Todd, a 6-2, 6-2 winner at the number one spot.

AMU's stretch of six consecutive matches against nationally recognized teams comes to an end next Saturday against the highest-ranked team of the group. The Gyrenes will head to West Palm Beach to take on national powerhouse Keiser University, who is ranked No. 2 in the newest NAIA Coaches' Poll. Opening serve is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in West Palm Beach.