BALTIMORE – The UMBC men's tennis team started brightly, winning the doubles point ,but visiting George Washington won two of three, three-set singles matches to edge the Retrievers, 4-2, at 40 West Racquet Club.

Seniors Melker Svard (Gothenburg, Sweden) and Eliott Loubatie (Paris, France) evened the doubles portion of the contest with a 6-4 triumph at the No. 2 position. Then, seniors Justin Carter (Randallstown, Md.) and Alex Drean (Bayonne, France) captured the doubles point for the Retrievers with a 6-3 victory over GW's top duo of Tverijonas/Fletcher.

The Colonials took a 2-1 lead with victories at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, but Drean evened the match, outlasting Hadjigeorgiu, 6-1`, 6-7, 6-1, at the No. 3 position.

Both Loubatie and junior Biyik Akinshemoyin (Laurel, Md./Reservoir) dropped their first sets, but each sent pivotal matches to deciding set with second-set triumphs. But  both Retrievers dropped 6-3 final set decisions, clinching the match for the Colonials.  

The Retrievers are off until they visit the state of Texas over spring break.  

GW 4, UMBC 2

Doubles

1-Carter/Drean, UMBC def. Tverijonas/Fletcher, GW, 6-3

2-Svard/Loubatie, UMBC def. Hadjigeorgiu/Sala, 6-4

3-Kapukiran/Reynolds, GW def. Akinshemoyin/Hsieh, UMBC, 6-1

Singles

1-Tverijonas def. Svard, 6-0, 7-5

2-Fletcher def. Carter, 6-4, 6-4

3-Drean def.  Hadjigeorgiu, 6-1`, 6-7, 6-1

4-Reynolds def. Loubatie, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3

5-Kapukiran def. Akinshemoyin, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

6-Hsieh led Sala, 6-1, 5-4, DNF

Order of Finish: Doubles (3,2,1*), Singles (1,2,3,4,5*)