CEDARVILLE, Ohio — The Bellarmine University men's tennis team on Saturday competed in its first dual match of the 2018-19 season, as Cedarville edged the visiting Knights 4-3.

Bellarmine (0-1) split the six singles matches with the Yellow Jackets (1-0). Sophomores Sam Rueff, at No. 3 singles, Nick Johnson, at No. 4, and Joseph Naville, at No. 6, all collected straight-sets victories for the Knights.

Naville and senior L.J. Allara also won at No. 3 doubles. Cedarville earned a point by winning two of the three doubles matches and gained three points for its three singles victories to notch a narrow win over the Knights.

"Even though I am disappointed with the loss, I took away a lot of positives from our first match," Bellarmine Coach Tyler Worley said. "It came down to literally two points out of the hundreds we played today, but that is how it goes sometimes — all you can do is remember the points that got away and use it as motivation in practice the next day. The sophomore class really stepped up winning all of our singles matches for us and showed their growth from last year, which will bring confidence for the rest of the season."

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