MONTGOMERY, Ala.-The eighth ranked Belhaven men's tennis team was defeated by second ranked Auburn Montgomery 5-0 in the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday morning.  The #2 seeded Blazers survived and advanced Friday afternoon after picking up victories against #7 seeded Mobile and #3 seeded William Carey in the opening round and quarterfinals. The Blazers knocked off Mobile 7-2 early in the quarterfinals and William Carey 5-1 in the semifinals.
 
In the quarterfinals match against the Rams, the Blazers were dominant in both singles and doubles. In men's singles, the Blazers Andre Borghi knocked off Cesar Paleari 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 1 court. After a loss on the No. 2 court, Jefferson Nino picked up a win over the Rams Nick Van Amerom 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 3, Daniel Prado defeated Lars Bannick 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 in the No. 4; David Mejia bested the Rams Karlis Stonis 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 5, and Enrico Patriarca anchored the Blazers with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Mobile's Santiago Quiros.
 
"Our guys won two big matches yesterday and were peaking at the right time," said Head Coach Levi Patton. "That gave us a lot of momentum and confidence coming into the match today."
 
Borghi, Nino, and Mejia picked up victories against William Carey in the semifinals, but struggled in singles play against AUM in the championship, losing both singles courts that were played to completion. In doubles play, Belhaven won two of three against the Crusaders in the semifinals, and lost all three courts against the Warhawks.
 
"We lost a tough match today, and we could not pull out the doubles," said Patton. "All the courts were very close, but AUM changed up their doubles since the last time we played them."
 
The Warhawks ended Belhaven's nine match winning streak and dropped the overall record to 16-4.
 
The Blazers will begin preparing for the NAIA National Championships that will take place in Mobile, Ala. Belhaven has a good shot at earning one of the at-large bids into the 24 team event which starts May 13^th.
 
"All our guys played very well," said Patton. "Hopefully we stay at #8 and get the first round bye. Two years in a row, we have lost in the SSAC finals, but our guys want more. We have still have three weeks of preparation for the tournament."
 
Vs. Mobile (Quarterfinals of SSAC)
 
Singles
Andre Borghi (BU) def. Cesar Paleari (MOB) 6-2, 6-2?
Marcio Dal Pont (MOB) def. Nikita Lisov (BU) 6-2, 6-3?
Jefferson Nino (BU) def. Nick Van Amerom (MOB) 6-1, 6-3?
Daniel Prado (BU) def. Lars Bannink (MOB) 6-2, 1-6, 6-4?
David Mejia (BU) def. Karlis Stonis (MOB) 6-2, 6-2?
Enrico Patriarca (BU) def. Santiago Quiros (MOB) 6-2, 6-1
 
Doubles
 Marcio Dal Pont/Nick Van Amerom (MOB) def. David Mejia/Nikita Lisov (BU) 8-5?
 Andre Borghi/Enrico Patriarca (BU) def. Karlis Stonis/Santiago Quiros (MOB) 8-4?
 Jefferson Nino/Daniel Prado (BU) def. Lars Bannink/Guilherme Pansera (MOB) 8-1
 
Vs. William Carey (Semifinals of SSAC)
 
Singles
Andre Borghi (BU) def 6-1, 6-2
Nikita Lisov DNF
Jefferson Nino (BU) def 6-2, 6-0
Daniel Prado DNF
David Mejia def  (BU) 6-3, 6-3
Enrico Patriarca DNF
 
Doubles
Lisov/Mejia (BU) def 8-4
Borghi/Patriarca (BU) def. 8-4
Nino/Prado def. (WCU) 9-7
 
Vs. AUM (Finals of SSAC)
 
Singles
Andre Borghi DNF vs. N. Pinones
Z. Jouini (AUM) def. Nikita Lisov 6-0, 6-2
Jefferson Nino DNF vs. V. Duboseland
Daniel Prado DNF vs. O.Lalami
M. Grifol (AUM) def David Mejia 6-2, 6-0
Enrico Patriarca DNF vs. J. Reason
 
Doubles
Reason/ Mediata (AUM) def. Lisov/Mejia 9-7
Jouini/Lalami (AUM) def. Borghi/Patriarca 8-6
Grifol/Pinones (AUM) def. Nino/Prado 8-4