Men's Tennis Falls, 6-1

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee dropped the doubles point as well as a trio of three-set matches, as 57th-ranked Virginia Tech defeated the 63rd-rated Blue Raiders in men's tennis action Saturday morning in Blacksburg, Va.

Middle Tennessee (2-3) had a chance to start strong and win the doubles point in the match, but could not pick up a win at the two or three spots in the lineup.

The 46th-ranked Blue Raider duo of Brandon Allan and Kai Schledorn kept their dual match record perfect, defeating Andreas Lauland and Soren Spanner in a tiebreaker at No. 1, 8-6. Tech's Angel Diankov and Morten Schultz defeated Aidan Fitzgerald and Kirk Jackson at No. 2, 8-4, while Hokies Arvid Puranen and Brent Wilkins won 8-6 over Rishan Kuruppu and Andreas Siljestrom at No. 3.

In singles, the Hokies won all of the close matches to pull away for the victory.

Lauland defeated Siljestrom at No. 1, 7-6 (2), 6-4, and Spanner won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, over Schledorn at No. 2. Puranen picked up a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Fitzgerald at No. 3, while Diankov won 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 10-6, over Jackson at No. 4.

Schultz gave Kuruppu a loss at No. 5, 6-3, 6-4. The lone Blue Raider point came at No. 6, where Anant Sitaram defeated Wilkins, 7-5, 6-3.

"It was another disappointing loss. We continue to lose very close matches and I hope it makes us better in the end," head coach Dale Short said. "We're really looking for our identity right now. All of our matches have been winnable, but we just haven't gotten the job done."

The Blue Raiders take on 44th-ranked Georgia Tech Monday in Atlanta at 1:30 p.m. CT. Middle Tennessee returns home February 20 with a 2 p.m. match versus Memphis at the Racquet Club in Murfreesboro.

#57 VIRGINIA TECH 6, #63 MIDDLE TENNESSEE 1
SINGLES
1. Andreas Lauland (VT) def. Andreas Siljestrom (MT), 7-6 (2), 6-4
2. Soren Spanner (VT) def. Kai Schledorn (MT), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
3. Arvid Puranen (VT) def. Aidan Fitzgerald (MT), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
4. Angel Diankov (VT) def. Kirk Jackson (MT), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 10-6
5. Morten Schultz (VT) def. Rishan Kuruppu (MT), 6-3, 6-4
6. Anant Sitaram (MT) def. Brent Wilkins (VT), 7-5, 6-3

DOUBLES
1. (46) Brandon Allan-Schledorn (MT) def. Lauland-Spanner (VT), 9-8 (6)
2. Diankov-Schultz (VT) def. Fitzgerald-Jackson (MT), 8-4
3. Wilkins-Puranen (VT) def. Kuruppu-Siljestrom (MT), 8-6

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