HICKORY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Tennis Team suffered their first loss in conference play on Wednesday, taking a 7-0 loss to Carson-Newman. 

The match delivered a promising start for the Bears as each doubles match went to the brink, but the Eagles were able to pull out a pair of 6-4 wins in addition to a 7-6 thriller at Doubles No. 2 to sweep the Bears. 

Despite dropping all six singles matches, Patrik Alvestrand and Rufus Plane both delivered exciting three-set matches at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively.  

The senior from Sweden was almost able to overcome his first-set loss with a 7-6 second set victory, but his bid fell short with a 10-8 loss in the third set. For the freshman from Wales, Plane was able to squeeze by in the first set with a 7-6 victory but dropped two competitive sets in a row to fall just short. 

The Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Tennis Team will return to the court on Tuesday, March 14 at Gaffney, S.C. for a road conference matchup against Limestone.