DELAND, Fla. - The Stetson University men's tennis team lost its second straight ASUN league match on Friday afternoon at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center as the visiting Florida Gulf Coast Eagles took the early doubles point and then held on to win the match, 4-3.

FGCU (10-5, 3-0 ASUN) jumped out to a 3-0 lead as the flights 1 and 3 matches were the first to finish in straight sets.

Stetson (7-7. 0-2 ASUN) notched the next two points with No. 6 Sami Ozzor improving to 6-0 on the year with a straight-set, 6-2, 6-3 victory. That was followed by Fabian Penzkofer's 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4 and he is now 5-2 this season.

At flight No. 5, Tim Gennes had lost his first set, but took the second set into a tiebreaker, winning it, 7-4, and forcing a third set. Meanwhile, at No. 2, Tristan Dumas was also in a third set as well. Gennes would get the win improving to 8-3, but Dumas would fall and the Eagles would get the win.

"The guys really did a great job battling back in the singles matches to give us a chance at winning today," Hatters head coach Christophe Noblet said. "We just really need to do a better job and be more competitive in doubles so that we can turn these 4-3 losses into 4-3 wins. That's something that we'll look to do on Sunday."

Stetson will be back in action on Sunday when Kennesaw State comes to town. The Hatters and Owls will face off at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center starting at 2 pm.
 

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