Jefferson City, Tenn. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Tennis Team (4-10, 1-6) played Carson-Newman (3-5, 2-2) to the wire but eventually fell by a 5-4 margin on Wednesday afternoon in a South Atlantic Conference match at the Buddy Catlett Complex.

Lenoir-Rhyne freshman Shane O'Dea (Dublin, IRELAND) led the way for the Bears with victories at third singles and first doubles in the losing effort.  O'Dea joined senior Patrick Bauer (Helmstedt, GERMANY) to defeat Carson-Newman's Stefano Daza and Juan Sebastian Perez by a 9-8 score.

Lenoir-Rhyne hosts Anderson in a South Atlantic Conference match on Saturday afternoon at Hickory High School beginning at 1:00 p.m.  Carson-Newman hosts Bellarmine (Kentucky) on Friday at 2:00 p.m.

NCAA Division II Men's Tennis Final
Carson-Newman 5, Lenoir-Rhyne 4
March 16, 2016
Jefferson City, Tenn. (Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex)

Singles competition:
1. Joao Pedro Oliveira (C-N) def. Patrick Bauer (LR), 6-2, 6-2
2. Tomas Hons (LR) def. Juan Sebastian Perez (C-N), 7-6, 6-4
3. Shane O'Dea (LR) def. Stefano Daza (C-N), 7-6, 6-3
4. Marc Bantel (C-N) def. Filip Dobrosavljevic (LR), 6-2, 6-3
5. Alex Crespo Sanchez (LR) def. Kevin Mendes (C-N), 6-3, 6-1
6. Jesus Barcete (C-N) def. Matthew Ledford (LR), 6-0, 1-6, 6-0

Doubles competition:
1. Patrick Bauer/Shane O'Dea (LR) def. Stefano Daza/Juan Sebastian Perez (C-N), 9-8
2. Joao Pedro Oliveira/Jesus Barcete (C-N) def. Matthew Ledford/Jordan Lawson (LR), 9-7
3. Lee Presson/Kevin Mendes (C-N) def. Tomas Hons/Alex Crespo Sanchez (LR), 8-4

Records:  Lenoir-Rhyne (4-10, 1-6 SAC), Carson-Newman (3-5, 2-2 SAC)