SAVANNAH, Ga.- The Ave Maria University men's tennis team got back in the win column on Saturday, defeating a fellow top 25 team in the Bees of SCAD-Savannah on their home court. AMU rolled to three straight doubles wins, then took four of six singles matches to secure the overall victory. The 5-2 win was Ave Maria's first Sun Conference win of the season, and moved the Gyrene men, currently ranked eighth in the nation, to 5-3 overall on the campaign. 

Ave Maria swept through doubles play, having little difficulty in two of the three matches. AMU's nationally ranked duo of Gustavo Cruz and Luca Cirenza emerged victorious, defeating SCAD's top team, 6-2. Ave Maria's team at the third flight was also a decisive winner, as Carlos Thireau and Greyson Williams defeated Eddie Wade and Carson O'Hara, 6-3. The closest match came at the second flight, where Alejandro Orihuela and Gaston Erhardt won a tiebreaker to defeat SCAD's number two team, 7-6.

AMU won three matches in straight sets to clinch victory over the Bees. Carlos Thireau was the highest-seeded of the trio, winning 6-3, 6-3 at the third flight. Guilherme Bento was absurdly dominant in his match at the fifth flight, as the Brazilian did not surrender a single point in a 6-0, 6-0 win. Tom Alias, who stepped into the Gyrene lineup due to injury, proved his mettle in a 6-3, 6-4 win over SCAD's O'Hara at the sixth flight.

The matches at the top two spots both went to a third set, with ten-point tiebreakers deciding both matches. Gustavo Cruz finished off a 3-0 week in singles play with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 win over SCAD's top player, Mark Tryakshin at the top flight. The fortunes were reversed at the second singles flight, where SCAD's Liam Stoica followed the same pattern as Cruz; win the first set, lose the second, then win the tiebreaker, with the final tally coming in at 6-3, 3-6, 10-4.

The last of AMU's five ranked opponents in the span of six weeks - although not the last ranked opponent of the season - comes Friday when the Gyrenes play their conference home opener. The opponent will be the Southeastern University Fire, who are currently the sixth-ranked team in the nation. The teams split two meetings last season, with the Gyrenes winning 5-2 at home in the regular season, and Southeastern winning 4-0 in the semifinals of the Sun Conference Tournament.