NEWBERRY, S.C. – In their fifth conference play of the season, the No. 43 Newberry College men's tennis team (8-6, 2-3 South Atlantic Conference) fell to the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears by a final score of 5-2.

The Wolves started out strong as sophomores Mateo Bivol (Bordeaux, France) Laurenz Grabia (Altdorf, Germany) claimed a 6-4 victory on court one to start doubles play. But after junior Enzo Blavignat (Bordeaux, France) and senior Lawrence Friedland (Cary, N.C.) fell on court two by a score of 3-6, the doubles point came down to senior Marcel Schomburg (Bingen, Germany) and sophomore Joshua Fritz (Waiblingen, Germany) on court three. Despite being up early in the set, the Wolves fell on court three 6-7 and the Bears took the doubles point.

The Wolves did not fare much better in singles play. Bivol secured an easy two-set victory as he took all 12 games across the two sets, winning both 6-0. Grabia lost set one on court 1-6 and set two was ruled a walkover with Grabia down 0-3. Friedland fared a bit better but fell 3-6 in the first set before his own 0-3 walkover.

Schomburg lost on court two in two sets as he dropped both 3-6. After taking set one 6-4, Fritz lost the next two sets 1-6, 6-10 on court four. Blavignat rounded out the competition with a victory for the Wolves on court six, as he took a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

The Wolves continue conference play on Saturday, March 25, as they host Catawba at the Oakland Tennis Center. The match is scheduled to begin at 12:30 P.M.