NEWBERRY, S.C. - The Newberry College men's tennis team (6-6, 0-2 SAC) gave a gutsy effort in a 5-2 loss to the Tusculum Pioneers on Thursday at the Oakland Tennis Center.

Doubles play would set the tone early for this match. The Pioneers would claim the early advantage by taking the No. 1 doubles position 6-2, but the pairing of Stratas Anastopoulo (Charleston, S.C.) and Enzo Blavignat (Bordeaux, France) caught fire, coming away with a 6-1 victory at No. 3 doubles. However, despite a solid effort from Mateo Bivol (Bordeaux, France) and Leo Zancheta (Assis, Brazil), the Pioneers would win the No. 2 doubles match 6-2, claiming the doubles point. 

The Wolves would come out swinging in singles play as Blavignat overcame a tough second set that ultimately ended in a tiebreaker to win the No. 5 singles position by a score of 6-1 7-6 (7-5). Tusculum would strike back with a victory at No. 3 singles, but Bivol held his ground to tie up the match again with a 6-3 6-4 win at No. 1 singles. However, the Pioneers would claim victories at both the No. 2 and No. 4 singles positions to clinch the match. Despite the match already being decided, Zancheta was determined to keep fighting. The senior split the first two sets with his opponent 7-5 5-7, but despite a valiant effort, he would fall by the narrowest of margins (11-9) in the third set super-tiebreaker.

The Wolves will look to bounce back on Saturday, Feb. 26 when they host the Coker Cobras at the Oakland Tennis Center with the match scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.