MARYVILLE, MO. – The East Central University men's tennis team had a tough weekend, dropping two matches to nationally-ranked regional opponents.  The Tigers (4-8), who are No. 45, first fell to No. 19 Northwest Missouri State 7-2 and then to No. 28 Southwest Baptist 5-4.

ECU got points from freshmen Marc Lerch and Adria Abella at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively.  Lerch defeated Josef Altmann 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 at No. 4 singles, while Abella took a 7-5, 3-6, 10-7 win over Aymeric Autones of the Bearcats (9-5).

In the second match of the weekend, the Tigers kept things closer.  However, ECU fell behind 1-2 after the doubles matches, with sophomore Stefan Schodlbauer and senior Nate Kipping earning the point with an 8-6 win at No. 3 singles.

The Tigers then picked up wins at No.4 and No. 6 singles.  Abella earned a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles over Alex Belote, but SBU (8-3) then took No. 1, and No. 3 singles to push back out to a 2-4 lead.

Schodlbauer then added a 6-3, 6-1 win over Yannick Doering at No. 5 singles to cut the deficit to one (3-4).  Senior Max DeJuan tied the match at four, with a 2-6, 6-0, 6-4 win over Torben Semrau at No. 4 singles.

But it was not enough for the win as ECU fell at No. 2 singles.

The Tigers will now get ready to wrap up the three-match weekend at Cowley County, Sunday, March 29 at 10 a.m.