HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's tennis team dropped its fourth consecutive home match Saturday afternoon inside the LMU Indoor Tennis Facility, falling 5-1 to Lindsey Wilson College.
 
The Blue Raiders (1-0), who are ranked No. 12 in the NAIA spring poll, dropped only one match on the day. LMU avoided a sweep as senior Xavier Marti took his No. 3 singles match by a 7-5, 6-4 score. Marti trailed by a break in each set before rallying to earn the win and improve to 5-0 on the season in singles.
 
"We just don't have the experience yet to close out those doubles points and battle through the ninth, 10th, and 11th games," said head coach Marc Walters, who saw his team fall to 1-4 this spring and drop to 1-5 overall.
 
"We are a bit shorthanded in depth and it shows mentally," continued coach Walters. "The guys are giving me what they have but the drop off is inevitable when you take so many close losses. We'll keep learning from the adversity and move on."
 
At No. 3 doubles, the tandem of freshman Nic Goslar and Marti nearly pulled off the win but fell 8-6 in a tiebreak. Sophomore Sebastian Colla held his own at the fourth singles spot, coming up just shy in a 7-5, 7-5 match.
 
The road does not get much easier for the Railsplitters as Bluefield State comes to town Friday afternoon for a 3 p.m. first serve from inside the Indoor Tennis Facility.
 
Receiving votes in the NCAA Division II Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason rankings, the Big Blues feature a veteran lineup that have been to the NCAA Round of 16 seven consecutive years. Bluefield State finished its 2019 campaign ranked 29th in the ITA poll.
 
"We added several matches this year against stiff competition and Friday will be no different," Walters commented. "Seeing national-level competition every day in non-conference action is the only way we can prepare for what we're going to face in our conference day-in and day-out. It's a process, and we'll will get used to it."
 
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