ABILENE, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word men's tennis team were handed a tough 4-3 loss on the road on Friday, when they opened up their Southland Conference season against Abilene Christian University at the Teague Events Center.
           
The Cardinals (5-9, 0-1) came up short in the doubles competition and dropped all three matches to give the Wildcats (4-9, 1-1) the first point of the day, which became the deciding factor in the match for the second time this season for UIW.
           
Nico Agritelley and Guilherme Gesser defeated Tucker Brown and Joey Vatanadilok, 8-5 at #1 doubles, while Jason Proctor and Henry Adams defeated Leonard Ivic and Ryan Hoverson in a close, 8-6 contest at #2.  Paul Domanski and Marco Bensley defeated Brody Rodriguez and Andre Buchanan-Dempsey, 8-1, making it a clean sweep for the hosts.
           
In the singles competition, the Cardinals came out strong and split the count winning three out of six matches.  Ivic, Brown and Hoverson defeated their ACU opponents, with Hoverson's match going into a third set.  He defeated Henry Adams 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, but losses at the #2, #5 and #6 positions gave ACU the win.
           
Head coach Pierce Branden said, "Even though it was a tough loss, I am proud of the way our men fought. We are down a few key players due to injury, but the men handled the situation with great poise. Matches like this will make us mentally stronger and closer as a team."

The Cardinals are back in action on Sunday when both the men's and women's teams host Tyler Junior College at the Mabry Tennis Center at 10 a.m.
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