LEXINGTON, Va. -- The men's tennis squad clashed against reigning conference champions, and 19th-ranked Washington and Lee in Virginia on Saturday. The Quakers fell by the 7-2 margin, but put up a valiant effort in both singles and doubles.

The loss moved GC to 5-3 (2-1 ODAC), while W&L improved their record to 7-2 (5-0 ODAC). 

Guilford achieved a singles win over Washington & Lee for the first time since 2019, when the two squads faced off in the ODAC semifinals. Brandon Hermes (West Hartford, Conn.) dispatched Will Kistler 6-3, 6-3, and sophomore Rylan Tuten (Asheville, N.C.) got his first win over a General in his collegiate career, besting Christian Basnight in three sets. Andres Mercedes (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) battled with nationally ranked Evan Erb and came close to victory, but was outlasted in a final set super-tiebreak.

Singles
No. 1: #8/4 Evan Erb (WLU) over Andres Mercedes (GC) 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7)
No. 2: Brandon Hermes (GC) over Will Kistler (WLU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 3: Eli Hirshberg (WLU) over Tye Sasser (Clayton, N.C.) (GC) 6-3, 6-2
No. 4: Connor Coleman (WLU) over Evan Wong (Greensboro, N.C.) (GC) 7-5, 7-5
No. 5: Rylan Tuten (GC) over Christian Basnight (WLU) 6-2, 6-7 (2), 7-5
No. 6: Jonathan Molner (WLU) over Emmanuel Oye (Clayton, N.C.) (GC) 6-4, 7-5

Doubles
No. 1: Evan Erb/Will Kistler (WLU) over Andres Mercedes/Brandon Hermes (GC) 8-4
No: 2: Heys Parker/Josh Rassin (WLU) over Tye Sasser/Rylan Tuten (GC) 8-2
No. 3: Connor Coleman/Sanjheev Rao (WLU) over Rishi Halukurike (Greensboro, N.C.) /Evan Wong (GC) 8-1

The Quakers return home for a brief, two-match homestand at the McMichael courts, the first being against visiting Methodist University. Start time for doubles on Sunday, March 24 is set for 1:00 p.m.