AUGUSTA, Ga.  The Methodist men's tennis team was challenged on Saturday as the Monarchs traveled to Division II Augusta. Despite some hard-fought matches by Methodist, the Jaguars came away with a 7-0 victory.    
"Matt and Harry had a great opportunity to win at No. 1 doubles and a couple of the guys were very competitive in singles against an NCAA DII team that is top 30 in the country," said Head Coach Scott Handback. "Tomorrow is our real test of the weekend."
 
JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Augusta def. Methodist 7-0
Records: Methodist 2-2, Augusta 7-4
Location: Newman Tennis Center; Augusta, Georgia

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In doubles, Methodist's No. 3 duo of Wills Belser and Decklan Rayner fell 6-0, while the No. 2 pair of Drew Guarnieri and Christian Tihanovich suffered a 6-1 defeat. Putting forth a valiant effort in the No. 1 doubles match, Matthew Hurley and Harry Crokam fought to a 6-6 tie before an 8-7 result in the tiebreaker favored Augusta. The Jaguars earned one point for their overall victory in the doubles round.
• In singles, Guarnieri (No. 2), Tihanovich (No. 6) and Hurley (No. 1) all saw swift endings to their matches as the Jaguars went ahead 4-0. On the No. 4 singles court, Crokam was next to be defeated, falling in sets of 6-2 and 6-1.
• In the No. 5 singles match, Rayner dropped his first set 6-1, but battled in his second set for a closer finish (6-4). In the final singles match to conclude, Belser (No. 3) fought hard in sets of 6-4 and 6-2 in favor of the Jaguars.

UP NEXT
The Monarchs have a quick turnaround as they're set to face Piedmont on Sunday at 11 a.m.