FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Bridgewater College men's tennis team opened the ITA Southeast Regional at Mary Washington on Friday.
 
The day started with doubles action as Noah Hughes and Corey Beshoar fell behind early. The duo dropped the opening three games before getting a service hold to even the playing field before falling 4-8 to the duo from Stevenson Institute of Technology.
 
Mark Gordon and Bryce Cline followed in doubles play. The pair started out strong with a pair of service holds before an eventual break by the duo from Catholic turned the tide. The Eagles hung around but fell 4-8.
 
Gabe Elder took the court in the afternoon session and fell behind 0-4 in a flash. The senior held and put on some pressure in the next service game, but ultimately fell 2-8.
 
Matthew Leonard took the court last in the afternoon session and instantly fell into a battle. The match featured no breaks of serve until late in the pro set where the junior fell behind 5-6. Leonard dug deep and instantly everything started falling in as he got the break back and then rolled on to hold at love to go head 7-6. After a Wilkes hold the match headed to a tie break. Leonard fell behind 1-4 in the breaker before fighting back to 4-4. At 5-5 a Wilkes serve hit the net and fell in and he faced a match point. A backhand-volley winner kept the match going. A force error gave Leonard a match pint and the junior executed with a defensive lob that changed the point and forced an error for him to emerge victorious 8-7(6).

Action continues tomorrow beginning with consolation doubles action at 8 a.m. Head to the tournament website for the full schedule.