ORLANDO, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Tennis team opened their week-long stay in Orlando Monday afternoon. The Gyrenes fell to 4-3 to the Mary Washington Eagles but put up a strong fight against the No. 23 team out of NCAA Division III.
The doubles point went to the Eagles to open the match. Mary Washington took the second position 6-1 and the third position 6-4. Danil Mishchanin and Andreu Solvia were down 6-5 in the top pairing when the doubles round was called, winning the most games among all three Gyrene pairs.
Mary Washington added to their lead taking the first pairing to finish in the singles round. The Eagles won the sixth position 6-2, 6-2.
Ave Maria got on the board for the first time when Mishchanin won the third position 6-4, 6-4. The senior only competed in two singles matches last season and got a chance to show out in the 2026 debut now that he is in the top six.
The Eagles made it 3-1 in the match after taking the top position 7-6 (4), 6-3. Joao Felipe Almeida forced a tiebreaker in the first set, the only set tiebreaker of the single round, but fell 7-4 in the extra game.
The Gyrenes scored their next point in the fourth position with Pedro Garcia winning 6-2, 7-5. Garcia dominated in the opening set and then fought back a furious comeback attempt from his UMW counterpart.
With the score at 3-2, the final two positions both went into a 10-point match tiebreak set to determine a winner. In the second position, Gianmarco Punzo won the first set 6-1 but dropped the second 6-4. The tiebreaking set unfortunately went to the Eagles 10-5, giving Mary Washington the match-winning point.
The fifth position's tiebreaker went to the Gyrenes with Solvia also winning 10-5, but it was too late as Ave Maria fell 4-3.
With the loss, the Gyrenes are 0-2 to start the season.
Ave Maria is back in action in Orlando, Tuesday, March 3, as the Gyrenes take on the Judson Eagles out of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference in the NAIA. It will be the first time since 2021 that the Gyrenes have taken on the Eagles.
