Miami Gardens, Fla.—The Men's tennis team faced off against Sun Conference rival Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in what would result in a hotly contested battle on Friday afternoon. As a result of an unfortunate injury, the Bobcats' Federico Acevedo was forced to sit-out the conference duel adding freshman Arturo Romero to the bottom of the lineup and mixing the doubles teams as well.

Facing the NAIA #3 nationally ranked Eagles for the first time since last season's Sun Conference championship final, the Bobcats were eager to pull off the upset this time around. But, the Eagles proved too tough in doubles play, as the Bobcats fell in all three doubles matches giving the momentum of the match to the Eagles.

In singles play, freshman #6 Arturo Romero pulled through to surprise ERAU's Sean de la Bastide 7-5, 6-4 to claim the lone point for the Bobcats. Consequently, #3 Andrew Rifkin battled hard and almost forced a 3rd set decision of his match, but ultimately fell to ERAU's Peter Francis 6-3 7-5. Down 4-1 in the overall and with increment weather in the way, the coaches had decided to stop all play once one team reached the deciding 5 points to win the match.

As seniors, #1 Adrian Escarate and #2 Tito Gayoso forced a deciding 3rd set in their respective matches, freshman #5 Nicolas Etienne could not overcome his opponent and fell by a score of 6-2, 6-1. That decided the overall, and the players on court were forced to discontinue their matches. “We showed a lot of fight and tenacity in the singles,” said coach Carrington afterwards. “We will have to work on our doubles game if we are to take on them again in the Sun Conference tournament.”

The Bobcats now get a much needed rest period of two weeks to be able to heal from their injuries and refocus to take on another road trip as they travel to central Florida on March 18th to take on Oklahoma Baptist University. Stay tuned to support your STU Bobcats!