HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C.  Methodist's men's tennis team earned an early morning victory Wednesday, before surrendering a lead in an afternoon match to finish the day with a split during the day's spring break doubleheader.

The Monarchs downed St. John Fisher College, 6-3, in a Division III match to start the day, only to slip behind Warner University, an NAIA institution, by a 5-4 count in the afternoon.

THE ESSENTIALS
Final scores: Methodist def. St. John Fisher, 6-3; Warner def. Methodist, 5-4
Records: Methodist 3-4; St. John Fisher 0-5; Warner 5-8
Location: Chaplin Park Tennis Center, and Evian Tennis Center; Hilton Head Island, S.C.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Monarchs broke out to a 2-1 lead after doubles action against the Cardinals in Wednesday's opening match, getting wins from Harrison Bitzberger and E.J. Stolmeijer in the No. 1 slot, and from Daniel Wolf and Alex Lycan at No. 3.
• Stolmeijer, Luke Laney, Joshua Deutsch and Samir Tewari closed out the victory with singles wins at Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 6, respectively.
• The Stolmeijer and Laney wins came in straight sets, while Deutsch and Tewari each won third-set super-tiebreakers by the identical scores of 10-7.
• Facing an NAIA squad from Warner, the Monarchs battled back from a 2-1 deficit after doubles action with consecutive singles wins at Nos. 6, 2 and 4 to inch within a point of the upset.
• Stolmeijer kept his day rolling with a straight-set win at 6-singles to square the match at 2-2, followed by Coleman Baker's win at No. 2.
• Jacob Oehser claimed Methodist's fourth point at No. 4, but Warner retaliated with three successive victories to claim the match and avoid the upset.

NEXT UP
The spring break trip to the coast continues Thursday when the Monarchs play Wilkes University in the morning and Eastern Nazarene College in the afternoon in a pair of D-III bouts.