GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Guilford College men's tennis team (0-3, 0-0 ODAC) continued its spring season Wednesday afternoon, hosting Belmont Abbey College (6-5, 0-0 CC) at the Ragsdale Courts. Despite a dominant showing at the top of the lineup in both singles and doubles, the Quakers fell 6-1 to the visiting Crusaders.

The afternoon began with doubles play, where the duo of Andres Mercedes (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) and Emmanuel Oye (Clayton, N.C.) proved why they were named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Men's Tennis Doubles Players of the Week earlier this week. The tandem secured a 6-4 victory at the #1 position over Belmont Abbey's Gianni Russo and Lucas Trigo. However, the Crusaders claimed the doubles point by sweeping the remaining flights.

In singles action, Mercedes continued his stellar play at the #1 flight. He earned Guilford's lone point of the match with a commanding straight-sets victory (6-0, 6-3) over Trigo.

Oye, George Hardie (Liberty, N.C.), and Alex Brown (Burlington, N.C.) put up competitive efforts in their respective matches, but the depth of the Belmont Abbey lineup proved to be the difference as the Crusaders took five of the six singles contests. Turner Johnson (Oak Ridge, N.C.) and Chris Kelley (Lexington, N.C.) also saw action for the Quakers against a tough non-conference opponent.

Guilford looks to bounce back on Saturday, February 28, when they travel to Fayetteville, N.C., for a neutral-site matchup against Covenant College (Ga.). First serve is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.

#GoQuakes