MAGNOLIA, Ark – Southern Arkansas suffered a close loss on Monday at Live Oak Tennis Courts to the #19 UT Tyler Patriots. The Muleriders dropped the match 4-3 following a hard-fought effort on their home court.

Coming out strong, SAU (2-2) won the doubles point as Matthew Tennant and Adrian Gheorge at No.2 doubles started the afternoon off with a 6-3 win. To secure the doubles point, Sander Jans and Ben Schneider at No.1 forced a 7-5 final over the Patriots.

Ole Valkyser gave the Muleriders a good lead after flying past Wessel 6-3, 6-1 at line 4 in just over an hour. Jans dropped to Joaquin at line one 7-5, 6-2, followed by a strong win from Mathieu Wierniezky at line three 6-4, 6-4.

At lines two and six, Muleriders were edged in three sets as Tim Fischer fell to Gonzalo Fernandez in an over 3-hour battle 6-4, 5-7, 3-6 at No. 2 and Schneider lost 7-5, 4-6, 0-6 to Yudai Watanabe at line No. 6, giving the Patriots their last point to secure the win in Magnolia. 

The Muleriders face (RV) Midwestern State University Texas on Friday, February 24 at 2 p.m. in Wichita Falls. Live coverage links will be available on www. MuleriderAthletics.com.