AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's tennis team nearly earned another signature win on Friday, falling 4-3 to the sixth-ranked team in the nation, the Southeastern University Fire. The Gyrenes and Fire split the day's six singles matches, but Southeastern's two doubles wins proved to be the difference in a hotly-contested dual at the AMU Tennis Complex in Ave Maria. AMU is 2-3 this season against nationally-ranked teams, with all three losses coming by margins of 4-3.

Southeastern had little trouble in doubles play, winning two of the three matches by convincing margins. The top two pairs for the Fires earned wins of 6-3 to clinch the doubles point for Southeastern. The closest match came at the third flight, where AMU's Carlos Thireau and Greyson Williams defeated SEU's Guido Luna and Enrique Martinez in a tiebreaker, claiming a 7-6 victory. 

Four of the six singles matches were decided in straight sets, with each team picking up two such victories. Ave Maria's players at the second and third singles flights were responsible for the decisive wins, beginning with Fernando Orihuela's 6-3, 6-2 victory at the second flight. Gaston Erhardt was also victorious, winning 6-2, 6-4 over Southeastern's Victor de Olivera at the third flight.

Ave Maria would need to win both of the matches that went to a third set to claim the match, but could only secure one of the two. The victorious player was Bruno Duarte, who split the first two sets by scores of 6-3 before winning a third-set tiebreaker, 10-8. Southeastern's win came at the first flight, where SEU's top player, Christian Garay, snuck past AMU's Gustavo Cruz by a score of 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

The defeat to the Fire leaves the Gyrenes with a 1-2 record in Sun Conference play - the Gyrenes will likely need two wins in their final three matches to move back into the top four in The Sun Conference. The conference schedule continues Saturday, when the Gyrenes welcome Warner University to the AMU Tennis Complex. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m., with Senior Day festivities occuring before the match.