TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, N.J. - The Daemen College men's tennis team nearly got over the hump today, but fell 5-4 in a hotly contest East Coast Conference dual-match versus Saint Thomas Aquinas College at the Washington Township Tennis and Fitness Club.

With the loss, Daemen drops to 2-13 overall this season, and 0-2 in ECC play.  The Spartans, who were voted tied for fifth with Daemen in the ECC preseason poll, improve to 8-4 overall and remain unblemished (2-0) in league play.

STAC opened the match by winning two-out-of-three in doubles action.  The Spartans' top pair of Aaron Stahl (Dusseldorf, Germany) and Javier Munoz-Laguna (Sevilla, Spain) were too much for DC's John LeMar (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) and Mark Veitengruber (Rockford, Mich./Rockford), winning a competitive match 8-5.  STAC's Roger Almato (Vic, Spain) and Andreu Ferragut-Lluch (Palma de Mallorca, Spain) were also 8-6 winners over DC's Gregory Lowe (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and Joey Gentile (East Amherst, N.Y./Niagara University) in second doubles.

Andrew LeMar (North Tonawanda, N.Y./North Tonawanda) and David Gonzalez Villegas (Pereira, Colombia/Liceo Frances de Pereira) staved off the doubles sweep, winning handily (8-1) for the Wildcats over STAC's Chris Jonas (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Gilberto Lantigua (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) in third doubles.

In singles play, the bottom of DC's lineup came through, picking up wins from Gonzales Villegas, Lowe, and Adam Kerr (Penfield, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit) in the fourth, fifth and sixth singles, respetively.  The win for Lowe snapped a personal seven-match drought as he earned his first singles victory since February 6 against Elmira College's Austin Mansell.

But, STAC earned the requisite three points to seal the dual-match victory after earning wins in first, second and third singles.  Stahl downed Veitengruber 7-6, 6-2 in the top singles slot in what was the most competitive of the three matches.

Daemen looks to salvage the weekend trip downstate with a non-league contest at Adelphi University tomorrow afternoon.