Emmitsburg, Md. (March 27, 2014) – In a highly-contested match that went down to the wire, the Mount St. Mary's men's tennis team could not slip past Bucknell and was handed a 4-3 defeat at home on Thursday afternoon. The Mount was playing its final home match at the Mount Tennis Courts this season.

The Mount (8-8) won the doubles point for the seventh time this season by picking up victories at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Austin Blake and Mike Zabetakis earned their team-leading 11th win by a score of 8-3 over Chris Tortora and Jonathan DeFrancesch at No. 2, while the all-freshmen tandem of Darren Mast and Louis Tonon were also 8-3 winners in their No. 3 doubles match against Octavio Canibe and Scott Bernstein.

Blake and Mast carried over their strong play into singles action with wins to add to the Mount's point total, but Bucknell (2-9) won four singles matches to earn the victory.

Playing No. 2, Blake eased his way to a 6-3, 6-1 win. After dropping the first set of his No. 5 singles match, Mast had to play catch-up to take down Kyle Rosen. Mast forced a third set with a 6-3 win in set two, and sealed the win thanks to a 10-5 win in the third.

In the No. 4 slot, Zabetakis fought for a third set after dropping the opening set to Canibe. Zabetakis won the second, 6-4, but could not complete the comeback, falling 6-4 in the third set.

Next on the schedule, the Mount heads to Fairfax, Va. to take on George Mason on Sunday, March 30, at 1:30 p.m.

DOUBLES
1. Bybel/Lynch (Bucknell) def. Salam/DeSomocurcio (Mount), 8-5
2. Blake/Mike Zabetakis (Mount) def. Tortora/DeFrancesch (Bucknell), 8-3
3. Mast/Tonon (Mount) def. Canibe/Bernstein (Bucknell), 8-3

SINGLES
1. Bybel (Bucknell) def. Salam (Mount), 6-1, 6-1
2. Blake (Mount) def. Lynch (Bucknell), 6-3, 6-1
3. Adams (Bucknell) def. DeSomocurcio (Mount), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
4. Canibe (Bucknell) def. Mike Zabetakis (Mount), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
5. Mast (Mount) def. Rosen (Bucknell), 2-6, 6-3, 10-5
6. Reibeisen (Bucknell) def. Tonon (Mount), 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)