LOUISVILLE, Ky.--The Bellarmine University men's tennis team dropped another extremely close match, falling 5-4 to the Brescia University Bearcats on Thursday afternoon at the Sports, Recreation and Fitness Center.

The Knights won two of three doubles matches to take a slim lead into singles, but Brescia came away with four vicories to eke out the 5-4 victory.  The match came down to the very last point in No. 4 singles, where Brescia's Thiago Mastroianni outlasted Todd Atcher in a tight 3-set affair 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4.

"This was another high quality and exciting college tennis match played by both teams," said Bellarmine Coach John Mican.  "The match was in doubt until the very last point."

The Knights got key contributions from Carlos Antonioli  and Jacob Knagenhjelm who had another solid doubles match winning a close one at number one, 8-6 .  Freshmen Michael Heinekamp and Alex Chanley showed what a force they have become at the number three spot winning 8-0.  Chanley then came through in singles with a tight 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) win on his fifth match point at number five. Another freshman, Chip Jabaley, finished out the scoring with a 6-3, 6-3 win at number six. 

Bellarmine slips to 2-6 on the season, with their last three losses coming on the slimmest of margins.  Two of the three were 5-4 scores while the other loss was officially scored 5-3 (Bellarmine was leading in the final match before it was called due to time constraints.)

The Knights now begin the outdoor portion of their season with their next match set for Tue, Mar. 15, at noon against the University of the Cumberlands. 

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