NEWBERRY, S.C. - Playing its first match in nearly three weeks, the Newberry College men's tennis team was beat Sunday afternoon by the No. 35 Tusculum College Pioneers, 6-3. The loss puts an end to Newberry's (5-5, 2-1 SAC) winning streak, while Tusculum (15-1, 5-0 SAC) stays perfect in South Atlantic Conference matches.

Despite the lay-off, the Indians showed no signs of rust in the match's opening stages. Tusculum fought hard to secure the first doubles point of the day, as Sergio Espinosa and Carlos Garcia edged Daryl Van Vuuren (Durban, South Africa) and Jeremy Smith (Durban, South Africa), 8-6, but the Indians responded by taking the next two points.

Maxim Sukharev (Vilnius, Lithuania) and Lucas Mattos (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) scored a resounding 8-3 victory over Leo Guaycurus and Henrique Rodrigues, while Felipe Sobrinho (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Mikael Jurkovic (Atlanta, Ga.) gave Newberry a 2-1 lead with a 9-7 win over Hunter Beal and Nic Bigler.

Tusculum, the preseason favorite to claim the SAC title, would respond like champions, taking the first three singles points. Espinosa breezed past Sukharev, 6-2, 6-2, and Bigler followed with a hard-earned 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-3) win over Van Vuuren. Garcia stretched Tusculum's lead to 4-2 by advancing past Smith, 6-1, 4-0 (ret.).

Newberry's Mattos would close the gap by taking his No. 4 singles match, 7-5, 6-2 over Rodrigues. The win is the sixth in a row individually for the sophomore from Brazil, running his 2008 record to 7-3.

Needing to take the final two singles matches to score the upset, the Indians instead dropped both. Guaycurus squeezed past Sobrinho, 6-4, 6-3, while Beal took a three set thriller from Jurkovic, 6-3, 6-7 (7-5), 10-3.

Still a favorite to host a first round SAC Tournament match in two weeks, the Indians take to the court again Tuesday when they face Lenoir-Rhyne. The match, a make-up from Saturday's rainout, with start at 3:30 p.m. in Hickory, N.C.