HILTON HEAD, S.C. (Mar. 4)- The Saint Vincent men's tennis team opened up their spring break trip to Hilton Head with a 6-3 defeat by Johnson and Wales on Monday evening.
 
The Bearcats (5-1) were defeated in two out of the three doubles matches by the Wildcats (7-2), before losing in four of the six singles matches to lose their first match of the season.
 
In doubles play, the Bearcats fell in number doubles (3-8) to give Johnson and Wales the early lead, but the Bearcats quickly tied it up with a win in number three doubles. The duo of Kyle Murray and August Lawrence earned an 8-3 win to tie the match at 1-1.
 
The Wildcats won a tight match in number two doubles, defeating Brady Johnson and Braden Yokopenic by a 6-8 score as the Bearcats trailed 2-1 going into singles play.
 
Number three singles was the first to finish as the Bearcats suffered a 2-6, 0-6 defeat and then also fell in number one singles as they lost that one by scores of 1-6, 4-6 as Johnson and Wales opened their lead up to 4-1.
 
Jack Citrone picked up the Bearcats first win of the evening in singles play, securing a 6-2, 0-6, 1-0(10-5) win against Sam Ciciarello of Johnson and Wales cutting the lead to 4-2.
 
Johnson and Wales clinched the match with a 5-7, 6-4 win in number two singles. Johnson won the last match of the day for the Bearcats in number four singles, winning by scores of 7-5, 2-6, 1-0(10-8) in a tightly contested match.
 
The Wildcats closed the match out with a win in number six singles, handing SVC their first loss of the season.
 
Saint Vincent continues their Hilton Head trip on Wednesday, March 6, as they take on Buena Vista University. The match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.