HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Playing their third match in as many days, Alabama A&M (1-6, 1-1 SWAC) dropped a 7-0 decision to Belmont (4-1, 0-0 OVC) in an NCAA Division I men's tennis match on Sunday, March 7.
 
The Bulldogs fell behind early in doubles play as freshman Austin Smith (Montgomery, Ala.) and junior German Ruiz Crespo (Mollina, Spain) fell by a 6-2 score at No. 3 to the Bruins Jake Briggs and Arthur Toledo. BU would then take the doubles point as Diego Castro and Tomas Luis posted a 6-3 win over redshirt-senior Gjorgji Popovski (Skopje, Macedonia) and junior Cheng Yang Chang (Koahsiung, Taiwan) at the second spot.
 
The junior tandem of Panji Setiawan (South Jakarta, Indonesia) and Rodrigo Arana Rios (Playa Del Carmen, Mexico) then dropped a decision at No. 1 by that same score, falling to Marko Illic and Taisei Miyamoto.
 
Castro would pick up a second point for the Bruins with a convincing 6-1, 6-0 victory over Yang at No. 6 in singles action while Setiawan battled Luis at No. 5 before falling 6-3, 6-4. Toledo would clinch the match for Belmont at the second spot with a 6-0, 6-4 decision over senior Fermin Ruiz Crespo (Mollina, Spain).
 
Arana Rios and Popovski both fell by 6-0, 6-4 scores at No. 1 to Illic and No. 3 to Miyamoto, respectively, before sophomore Natiphat Mulada (Korat, Thailand) delivered A&M's closest match of the day. Competing at No. 4, he dropped the opening set 6-1 before winning the next 7-5 and falling 10-5 in the tiebreaker to round out the 7-0 final.
 
Alabama A&M is back in action next weekend as they head to Montgomery, Alabama for a pair of matches. The first of those will be on Friday, March 12 against Alcorn State and on Saturday, March 13 against Prairie View A&M. Both matches are slated for 10 a.m. starts.
 
BELMONT 7, ALABAMA A&M 0
Doubles
No. 1. Marko Illic/Taisei Miyamoto (BEL) def. Panji Setiawan/Rodrigo Arana Rios (AAMU) 6-3
No. 2. Diego Castro/Tomas Luis (BEL) def. Gjorgji Popovski/Cheng Chang Yang (AAMU) 6-3
No. 3. Jake Briggs/Arthur Toledo (BEL) def. German Ruiz Crespo/Austin Smith (AAMU) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
 
Singles
No. 1. Marko Illic (BEL) def. Rodrigo Arana Rios (AAMU) 6-0, 6-4
No. 2. Arthur Toledo (BEL) def. Fermin Ruiz Crespo (AAMU) 6-0, 6-4
No. 3. Taisei Miyamoto (BEL) def. Gjorgji Popovski (AAMU) 6-3, 6-2
No. 4. Alfred Wallin (BEL) def. Natiphat Mulada (AAMU) 6-1, 5-7, 10-5
No. 5. Tomas Luis (BEL) def. Panji Setiawan (AAMU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6. Diego Castro (BEL) def. Cheng Chang Yang (AAMU) 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 2, 1, 3, 4