Buena Vista, Va. – Saturday's tennis match between St. Mary's College of Maryland and the host Southern Virginia University Knights came down to No. 6 singles as Southern Virginia edged the Seahawks for the 5-4 win.

With the match tied at 4-4, sophomore Nick Ersoy (Prince Frederick, Md./Huntingtown) and junior Brian Blocher (Rockwood, Tenn.) battled for the right to lift their respective team to the win. B. Blocher notched a straight set win over Ersoy but not before enduring a pair of tiebreaking games. B. Blocher outlasted Ersoy 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-2).

St. Mary's (3-5) started the match with a 1-0 lead as senior captain Andrew Gear (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) and sophomore Mark Hardesty (Westminster, Md./Westminster) posted an 8-3 win at one doubles for their fourth consecutive doubles win. The Knights (7-8) responded with an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles to even up the match.

Senior J. Guzzone (Columbia, Md./Hammond) and sophomore Robert Bishop (Hollywood, Md./Great Mills) gave the Seahawks a 2-1 edge with an 8-4 victory at No. 2 doubles for their second straight doubles win.

Gear then made a 3-1 SMCM lead with his fourth consecutive singles as he blanked sophomore Pradeep Ravisankar (Chennai, India) in straight sets. First-year Cooper Brown (Kaysville, Utah) closed the gap to 3-2 with a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles.

Hardesty came through for the Seahawks at No. 2 singles with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over junior Dallin Evans (Safford, Ariz.) for his second in a row, giving St. Mary's a 4-2 lead. However, back-to-back singles wins by first-year Zac Bowers (Houston, Texas) and sophomore Adam Blocher (Rockwood, Tenn.) at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively, caused a 4-4 draw.

St. Mary's will back on the courts tomorrow as the Seahawks welcome Capital Athletic Conference newcomer, Penn State Harrisburg, to the Somerset Tennis Complex for a CAC match at 1:00 p.m.

Facebook: StMarysAthletics

Twitter: @smcseahawks, @SMCMtennis, #SeahawkAthletics

Instagram: @smcseahawks