Box Score
MOBILE, Ala.-The Belhaven men's tennis team saw the 2012 season come to a close on Wednesday afternoon in the second round of the NAIA National Championships, falling to second ranked Embry-Riddle University (FL) 5-0 at the Mobile Tennis Center. The Blazers, ranked 15th in the final regular season NAIA Top 25 Poll, could not recover from a slow start as the Eagles pulled away for the win.

Embry-Riddle (18-3) established the momentum early by sweeping all three doubles matches to take a 3-0 advantage. The Eagles are no stranger to the NAIA National Championships making their 13 appearance this season and were well rested coming into the match thanks to an opening round bye. Belhaven (16-4) needed to win five of the six singles matches in order to advance, but it proved to be too much against an experienced Embry-Riddle squad. The Eagles picked up singles wins by Patrick Besch over Gabriel Prado 6-1, 6-1 and Adrian Bayh over Daniel Duarte 6-0, 6-1. The other four singles matches were left unfinished since Embry-Riddle reached five points to advance.

“The guys played tough put forth a great effort,” said Head Coach Levi Patton. “It was the best team we played all year and it took a while for us to adjust to the speed of the game. We fell behind 3-0 after the doubles competition making it tough for us to come back at that point. Despite the loss, I'm very proud of how well the team played this season and here at the national tournament. Our experience on the national stage this season will certainly be something we can build on as we look ahead to 2013.”

Embry-Riddle will now advance to the quarterfinals to battle the number seven seed Xavier University on Thursday afternoon at 1:00 PM. The Blazers finish one of the most successful seasons in program history and are back in the national spotlight for the first time in nearly 20 seasons. Belhaven owns one NAIA National Title in men's tennis which came in 1983.