WACO, Texas — The Southwestern men's tennis team battled back from a slow start but couldn't overcome the early deficit in a 7-0 loss to the No. 18-ranked NCAA Division II UT-Tyler Patriots. 

Hunter Bajoit and Vesko Lekovic reprised last year's role at line 1 doubles, dropping an 8-5 match to the No. 9-ranked doubles team in Division II, Joaquin Bianchi and Gonzalo Fernandez. Anton Borovik and Hemanshu Rambojun made their debut as a doubles team, losing to Moritz Mayer and Leon Sell in line 2. Jared Burton and Carlos Esteban Rodero lost a hard-fought match 8-6 to Jorge Sala and Safar Rasulov to give Texas-Tyler the doubles point. 

"We started extremely slow and sluggish in doubles but found a way at No. 1 and 3 to wake up and play our game," Southwestern head tennis coach Billy Porter says. "Unfortunately, it was just a little too late, but I liked the battle we saw in them."

Southwestern faced a daunting task in singles with three Patriots nationally-ranked in Division II. Bajoit was defeated 6-0, 6-2 by No. 12 Bianchi. Lekovic took his set against No. 5 Fernandez to three sets before going down 3-6, 6-3, 12-14. 

Borovik was defeated 6-1, 6-3 by Mayer, and Roy was bested in a pair of 6-1 sets by Rasulov. Steven Tibbetts fought valiantly against No. 34 Egor Shestakov, losing 6-4, 6-3, and Esteban Rodero lost 6-2, 6-2 to Jonas Dixon. 

"Vesko played pretty good tennis losing in a third set breaker to the No. 5-ranked player in DII," Porter says. "Steven played a better second set, and I thought he closed well at the net today. His volleys have improved immensely and are now a huge part of his game." 

Southwestern will return to action for a road match against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Thursday, Feb. 10, at 3:00 p.m.