COCHRAN, Ga.- The Ave Maria University men's tennis team concluded a busy week on Saturday, playing their third match in five days against a formidable foe - the eleventh ranked team in the nation, the Knights of Middle Georgia. The Gyrenes weren't able to mount a major challenge to the Knights on their home courts, as Middle Georgia emerged with a 4-0 victory.

Middle Georgia easily earned the doubles point, winning at the first and third flights by a combined score of 12-3. The most competitive match was the one that was left unfinished at the second flight. Ave Maria's team of Joao Felipe Almeida and Nolan Smith played even with MGA's team of Guillermo Louis and Samyak Bajracjarya, with the score tied at three when the doubles point was clinched by the Knights.

Ave Maria's top singles performance came from Tom Alias, who was the only Gyrene on the day to win a set. Alias rolled in the opening set, winning 6-1 over Middle Georgia's Daniel Garcia Suarez. However, Garcia Suarez rallied for a 7-5 win in the second set, and held a 2-0 lead in the decisive third set when the Knights put their clinching fourth point on the board.

The Knights' needed three singles wins came quickly, with straight set victories at the first, third, and fourth flights. The match at the fifth flight barely got underway - with Ave Maria's Nolan Smith holding a 2-0 lead in the first set - and the match at the sixth set never even took the court.

After two matches in the Peach State, the Gyrenes will head back to Florida, with no trips out of state on the schedule until the postseason. The first of these matches is scheduled for Wednesday, the Sun Conference opener against the Conquistadors of Florida National University. Ave Maria will also return to the courts the following day, when the Gyrenes face Mount St. Mary's University in a neutral site affair in Orlando.