AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's tennis team took a point from the No. 19 team in the nation on Saturday, but fell short of an overall win in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the SCAD-Savannah Bees at the AMU Tennis Complex. The Gyrenes won two matches - one in singles and one in doubles - against the Bees, but dropped the other five finished matches in a rematch of last season's Sun Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

One of the highlights of the day for the Gyrenes came in doubles play, where Anderson Duggan and Gaston Erhardt emerged victorious. The top AMU doubles team won in decisive fashion in their match against the Bees, claiming a 6-3 victory. However, SCAD claimed the other two doubles matches - 6-1 at the second flight and 7-5 at the third - to take the day's initial point.

Ave Maria's top player in singlesplay was Juan Ignacio Garcia, who was responsible for the lone Gyrene point of the afternoon. The junior rolled to a win in straight sets, defeating SCAD's Henri Wieber by a 6-3, 6-1 margin. That victory proved to be all the Gyrenes could earn, as SCAD earned wins at the first, second, and fourth flights to claim the match. The matches at the third and sixth flights remained unfinished.

The schedule for Ave Maria gets no easier in the final week of the season, with two nationally recognized opponents coming to the AMU Tennis Complex this coming weekend. The Gyrenes will host No. 3 Keiser on Friday, with the regular season concluding Saturday afternoon against St. Thomas University, who were receiving votes in the newest edition of the NAIA Coaches' Poll. AMU will then get a week off before The Sun Conference Tournament in Brunswick, Georgia during the final week of April.