SAN ANTONIO — The Southwestern men's tennis team faced a rough road environment against an NCAA Division I opponent, losing 7-0 to the University of the Incarnate Word. 

Hunter Bajoit and Jared Burton earned an impressive 6-3 win over Joao Sasso and Warren Fulgenzi, Jr. at No. 2 doubles. Unfortunately for Southwestern, Vesko Lekovic and Hemanshu Rambojun were defeated 6-3 by Marwin Kralemann and Noah De Luna in No. 1 doubles, and Oscar Roy and Carlos Esteban Rodero lost 6-1 in No. 3 doubles. 

Since the teams were playing by NCAA Division I scoring rules, Incarnate Word earned the lone doubles point. 

"Jared and Hunter got a huge win at No. 2 doubles," Southwestern head tennis coach Billy Porter says. "They closed well, and I thought both of their midrange volleys were the best we've seen them all year." 

Incarnate Word swept Southwestern in singles. Kralemann defeated Bajoit 6-3, 6-3 in No. 1 singles, followed by Tomas Reche besting Lekovic 6-2, 6-1 in No. 2 singles. Steven Tibbetts lost 6-4, 6-2 to Sasso in No. 3 singles, Roy was defeated 6-3, 6-4 by Smith at No. 4, Travis Rafferty lost 6-1, 6-4 to Arnau Miralles at No. 5, and Daniel Haley lost 6-3, 6-1 to Fulegenzi at No. 6.

"We struggled to adapt to the in-your-face Division I style of tennis and the no-ad scoring. UIW converted way more deciding points than we did, so credit to them for playing the big points better than us," Porter says. "I'm really proud of how our guys conducted themselves the entire match. It was an unfortunate atmosphere, and our guys represented the Southwestern brand to the fullest until the very end."

Southwestern drops to 6-6 with the loss. The Pirates will host NCAA Division II St. Mary's on Tuesday, March 29, at 4:00 p.m.