AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Tennis team dropped the Sun Conference opener Friday afternoon, falling to the Coastal Georgia Mariners 4-0.

In the opening doubles round, Andreu Soliva and Julien Mourad were one game away from winning their set, leading their Mariner counterparts 5-1. Unfortunately, Coastal Georgia made quick work of the other two sets, winning both by a score of 6-2, to score the opening point in the match.

In the singles round, Coastal Georgia won the first three pairings to finish, clinching the match at 4-0.

Joao Felipe Almedia and Soliva were the only two Gyrenes to win a set during their matches. In the top pair, Almeida won the second set 7-5, forcing a third set which ended in a tie when the match was called. Soliva won his first set 6-4 and was only in the second set when the match was called.

With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 1-6 overall and starts conference play 0-1.

The Gyrenes are back in action Saturday, March 21, with a morning match against the SCAD Bees. The Bees were ranked 19^th in the most recent NAIA poll and beat Florida National on Friday for their first win of the conference season. The match is set to start at 9 a.m. at the AMU Tennis Facility.