MOUNT OLIVE, N.C.  Methodist's NCAA Division III men's tennis squad opened up its spring schedule Tuesday afternoon by stepping up a division to play the host D-II Trojans of the University of Mount Olive, falling to UMO by a count of 7-0.

The match was played under the D-I and –II rules, whereas the three doubles matches are contested for one point, best of three.

The Trojans swept doubles action to take that point heading into singles play, during which Methodist stood its ground in several of the six matches.

THE ESSENTIALS
Final score: Mount Olive def. Methodist, 7-0
Records: Methodist 0-1, Mount Olive 2-3
Location: John Neal Walker Tennis Center; Mount Olive, N.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Nos. 3, 4 and 5 singles matches each went three sets, with Methodist pushing to the lead with first-set victories in two of the three bouts.
• Trent Harner downed Pablo Safont Ferrer, 6-3, in the opening set at 3-singles, while teammate Jacob Oehser was seizing the lead at No. 5 with a 6-4 first-set win over Gregory Normand.
• Hayden Wilfong dropped his opening set against Gustavo dos Santos at 4-singles, 6-4, but bounced back with a 6-4 win in the second to put three Monarchs on the precipice of upsets.
• Safont Ferrer was the first Trojan to battle back for a match victory, taking the next two sets from Harner to squeeze out the win.
• Shortly after, Normand put the finishing touches on his rebound in the second and third sets to steal the victory from Oehser.
• The last match on the courts was the Hayden-dos Santos affair. Wilfong pushed his UMO counterpart but dropped the set by a service break to allow dos Santos to complete the day's sweep for the Trojans.

NEXT UP
Methodist splits its squad for a pair of Friday-afternoon matches. One half of the team will travel to Wilson, N.C., to play host Barton College, while the other half welcomes visiting Virginia Wesleyan University to the Gene Clayton Tennis Center in a 3 p.m. non-conference match.