MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The 57^th-ranked Middle Tennessee men's tennis team won the doubles point but dropped four straight singles matches, falling 4-1 to 14^th-ranked and second-seeded Harvard Thursday afternoon at the Blue-Gray Collegiate Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala.

The Blue Raiders got off to a good start, winning the doubles point to take an early lead, but could not sustain the momentum in singles play.

"I was really excited because we played so well in doubles," Blue Raider head coach Dale Short said. "But we played very cautious in singles and dug ourselves too big of a hole. It was just too much to come back."

Brandon Allan and Kai Schledorn defeated 26^th-ranked Jonathan Chu and David Lingman, 8-5, at No. 1, and Rishan Kuruppu and Andreas Siljestrom won 8-3 at No. 3 against Jason Beren and George Turner.

The Crimson came back in singles to win four competed matches, with the other two in the third set.

Siljestrom lost at No. 1 to 35^th-ranked Lingman, 6-2, 6-3, while Schledorn dropped a 6-1, 7-5, decision to Chu at No. 2. Jackson lost 6-3, 6-0, to Cliff Nguyen at No. 4, and Kuruppu dropped a 6-1, 7-6 (5) decision to Jack Li at No. 5.

Trevor Short split sets with Riddell at No. 3, as did Anant Sitaram with Turner at No. 6.

The Blue Raiders play again Friday at 8:30 a.m. against the loser of a late afternoon match between Old Dominion and Boise State.

#14 HARVARD 4, #57 MIDDLE TENNESSEE

SINGLES

1. David Lingman (HU) def. Andreas Siljestrom (MT), 6-2, 6-3

2. Jonathan Chu (HU) def. Kai Schledorn (MT), 6-1, 7-5

3. Trevor Short (MT) vs. Mark Riddell (HU) - stopped

4. Cliff Nguyen (HU) def. Kirk Jackson (MT), 6-3, 6-0

5. Jack Li (HU) def. Rishan Kuruppu (MT), 6-1, 7-6 (5)

6. Anant Sitaram (MT) vs. George Turner (HU) - stopped

DOUBLES

1. Brandon Allan-Schledorn (MT) def. Lingman-Chu (HU), 8-5

2. Jackson-Short vs. Brandon Chiu-Riddell (HU) - stopped

3. Kuruppu-Siljestrom (MT) def. Jason Beren-Turner (HU), 8-3

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