LAKELAND, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Tennis team fell in a neutral site match Thursday to the Oakland City Mighty Oaks. Despite putting up a fight in the high pairing, the Mighty Oaks won enough points among the lower pairs to clinch the match 4-0.

In the opening doubles round, Oakland City took the second and third pairings 6-1 and 6-2, respectively, to score the first point of the match. In the top pair, Joao Felipe Almeida and Pedro Garcia were only down 4-3 when the round was called.

In the singles round, Oakland City won the first, fourth and sixth pairings to win the match 4-0.

In the other three pairings, the Gyrenes were holding their own, but could not finish before the Mighty Oaks clinched the match. In the second pairing, Gianmarco Punzo won a highly contested first set 7-6 and was tied at one in the second set. Garcia had won the first set of the third pairing 6-3 before the match was called. Julien Mourad dropped the first set of the fifth pairing but was up 3-1 in the second set right before the match was called.

With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 1-5 overall.

The Gyrenes have two scrimmages before starting conference play March 20. The Sun opener will be at home as the Gyrenes play host to the Coastal Georgia Mariners. In the most recent match between the two teams, Ave Maria beat Coastal Georgia in the Sun Conference Quarterfinals last year, eliminating the Mariners from the tournament.