FLORENCE, S.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne men's tennis team traveled to Florence, S.C. to compete in the City of Florence Invitational over the weekend. The Bears went 1-1 on Saturday, placing them in the 3rd place match Sunday morning against Bluefield State, which they won 4-1. On Saturday, LR defeated Mount Olive 4-1 to open the tournament, and then fell to Lander 4-0. 

The Bears swept doubles against Mount Olive, with the powerhouse team of Rhodri Atkinson and Josh Lazenby winning at No. 1, Mauricio Hernandez and Joel Hemmings winning at No. 2, and Lewis Scott and Patrik Alvestrand winning at No. 3. In the singles, Alvestrand, Hernandez and Scott all took down their opponents. LR was ahead in the other matches as well, but once a team gets to 4 victories, the match is over. 

The Bears advanced to take on nationally-ranked Lander and fell 4-0 to the Bearcats. Atkinson and Lazenby did win at No. 1 doubles, but doubles counted 2-for-1 in this tournament. 

In the third place match on Sunday morning, Atkinson and Lazenby were victorious again at No. 1 doubles, as were Hernandez and Hemmings. In singles, Atkinson won at No. 1, Lazenby won at No. 2, and Alvestrand won at No. 3. 

The Bears are in action next on Friday, Feb. 11 at Southern Wesleyan before heading back to Florence on Sunday to take on Francis Marion. 

Hear head coach Erik Scanlan's thoughts on the weekend in the video above or here.