AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's tennis team made program history on Sunday evening, defeating an NCAA Division I opponent for the first time ever. The Gyrenes, ranked 17th in the most recent NAIA Coaches' Poll, swept all five singles matches that were played against Bucknell University of the Patriot League, and remained undefeated at home with a 6-1 win over the Bison. Bucknell is a top four program in the Patriot League, and had the Patriot League Player of the Week earlier this season.

Bucknell defaulted at the number three doubles spot, but rebounded to take the initial point with wins at the top two spots. Harrison Gold and Charlie Nordahl cruised at the top spot with a 6-2, while the match at the number two spot essentially decided the doubles point. The match between Michael Owen and Nicolas Grunig of Bucknell and Guilherme Bento and Carlos Thireau went to a tiebreaker, where the Bucknell duo emerged with a 7-3 victory. 

The top two singles matches both went into a third set, but Ave Maria emerged victorious in both to set the tone for the rest of singles action. Bruno Duarte took the first set from Harrison Gold, 6-2, but Gold forced a third set with a 7-6 win in the second set. The third set tiebreaker went to Duarte, 10-6. Fernando Orihuela followed a similar formula at the number two spot, winning the first set and losing the second before squeaking past the former Patriot League Player of the Week with an 11-9 win in the tiebreaker.

The last three singles matches - Tom Alias was a default winner at the number six spot - were dominated by the Gyrenes, giving AMU more than enough to take the match from the Bison. Sebastian Grijalva surrendered just two points in his win at the third position, and Guilherme Benton swept his match at the number four spot, 6-0, 6-0. Carlos Thireau followed suit at the number five spot, winning 6-0, 6-2 over Bucknell's Charlie Nordahl. 

Winners of six in a row and currently undefeated in the month of March, the Gyrenes are at home again on Tuesday afternoon for an NAIA matchup with Huntington University out of the Crossroads League. Opening serve between the Gyrenes and the Forresters is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at the AMU Tennis Complex, and will be Ave Maria's lone contest of the coming week.