The men’s tennis team traveled to Fayetteville, Ark. on March 25 to face the Arkansas Razorbacks. They dropped the match, 6-1, despite winning the initial doubles point. The men fell to 7-8 on the year.

Sophomore Oscar Pachon and freshman Justin Nogalski started the Billikens off on a positive note, winning their doubles match, 6-4. Juniors David Ferragut and Juan Calero suffered a loss at the number one doubles spot, so it was up to SLU’s second-spot team to pull out the win. Junior John Nogalski and senior Paarth Dodhiawala eked out the victory in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (10-8) to put SLU ahead, 1-0, going into singles play.

However, none of the men were able to find success in their respective individual battles. Pachon nearly won the first set at the number five place, but ultimately lost, 7-5, 6-3. The rest of the Billiken squad conceded straight-set losses in the matchup.

The Billikens still have a solid month of play ahead of them to make up ground. On April 5, the men return to Dwight Davis Tennis Center to take on Lewis and Clark Community College. They will host William Woods University on April 13. Their final match of the regular season will take place on April 21 when the men travel to UMKC.

The men, sitting on a 3-2 A-10 record, will return to conference play when they  journey to Orlando, Fla. on April 27-30 to battle for the A-10 Conference title. Their winning A-10 record should give them confidence as they enter that tournament.