BRUNSWICK, Ga.- The Ave Maria University men's tennis team defeated a ranked opponent for the third time this season, knocking off the No. 22 Mariners of the College of Coastal Georgia by a 5-2 score Saturday afternoon in Brunswick. The win was Ave Maria's ninth of the regular season, and allowed the Gyrenes to finish the month of March with a 7-1 record, including two top-25 wins. 

Coastal Georgia won the doubles point, earning victories at the second and third positions. Ave Maria's top doubles team of Gustavo Cruz and Nicholas Hofmeister got AMU's lone doubles win with a 6-3 triumph over Lucas Landaluce and Arthur Figuiere. The team of Ramon Fererr and Mohamed Belcora won for the Mariners at the number two spot, and Bautista Chiaradia and Agustin Leguizamon finished off the doubles point with a 6-2 win at the third flight. 

Trailing 1-0, the Gyrenes responded with wins in five of the six doubles matches, including two critical wins in third sets that proved to be decisive. The first of the three-set winners was Bruno Duarte, who rallied from a 6-2 defeat in the first set to win 6-2 in the second, then took the third set in a tiebreaker, 7-6. Fernando Orihuela also came back from a loss in the first set, winning 6-3 and 6-4 in the final two sets after falling 6-1 in the first set.

At the top spot, Gustavo Cruz controlled his match against Arthur Figuiere, winning 6-3, 6-4. Guilherme Benton came up with Ave Maria's most dominant win of the day, a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Bautista Chiaradia at the number five spot. AMU's final win was provided by Carlos Thireau, who beat Felix Arroyo Viglino by a 7-5, 6-3 margin. The lone Coastal Georgia winner was Mohamed Belcora, who won in three sets at the number four spot, earning a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win over Sebastian Grijalva.

With three matches remaining in the regular season, the Gyrenes are in prime position to claim a top-two finish in The Sun Conference, as well as the second seed in next month's Sun Conference Tournament. A win over Warner on April 9 would accomplish both goals for AMU. Before facing the Royals in the conference finale, the Gyrenes will take on the Tritons of Eckerd College on April 7 at the AMU Tennis Complex. Opening serve of that match is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Ave Maria.