Kennesaw, Ga. – The USC Upstate men's tennis team opened ASUN play on Wednesday afternoon with a 5-2 defeat on the road against the Kennesaw State Owls from the Betty Sigel Tennis Courts.

Upstate falls to 4-11 on the season and 0-1 in conference play, while Kennesaw State improves to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in the league.

The Owls captured the doubles point after winning two matches at No. 1 and No. 3 to take a 1-0 lead over the Spartans. In the No. 2 doubles match, Felix Ewers and Lenhard Haupt were tied 5-5 with David Durham and Drew Wendel but the contest went unfinished.

Kennesaw State also won four of the six singles matches for the 5-2 victory. Upstate earned two victories during singles play at the No. 2 and No. 5 positions.

Haupt, playing at No. 2 singles, evened the match for the Spartans at 1-1 after earning a straight set victory over Sam Slade 6-2, 6-1. Ignacio Garrido won his fourth straight singles match following a three-set triumph 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 over Wendel at No. 5.

Fernando Bernardes took his No. 4 singles match into the third set against Lucas deTorres Curth. Bernardes won the first set 6-4 before Curth responded by taking set two 6-0. The third set went into extra points with Curth holding off Bernardes 14-12.

The Spartans host their first ASUN match of the season on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Lipscomb.

Follow Upstate men's tennis on your mobile device, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Tennis Match Results

Singles competition
1. Simon Pritchard (KSUM) def. Felix Ewers (UPST) 6-4, 6-1
2. Lenhard Haupt (UPST) def. Sam Slade (KSUM) 6-2, 6-1
3. Fermin Calvo Barcelo (KSUM) def. Ankush Arora (UPST) 6-4, 6-2
4. Lucas deTorres Curth (KSUM) def. Fernando Bernardes (UPST) 4-6, 6-0, 14-12
5. Ignacio Garrido (UPST) def. Drew Wendel (KSUM) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Jake Bouchillon (KSUM) def. Francisco Neto (UPST) 6-2, 6-3