WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's tennis team suffered an 8-1 defeat tonight to visiting West Virginia Wesleyan College in non-conference action at the Miller Tennis Center.  The dual-match this evening marked Daemen's spring season opener.

Daemen fell to 1-5 overall in dual-matches this season.  It was Daemen's first action since falling by the same score to Walsh University in the fall season finale back on Oct. 11.

The visiting Bobcats, a traditional power in the Mountain East Conference, picked up the win in their first dual-match of the season.  WVWC is coming off a 19-6 campaign in 2015-16, including a 6-1 mark in the MEC play.

The guests took a 2-1 lead following doubles play this evening.  Returning All-MEC selections Ferran Berga and Nathan Sabate squeaked out a 9-7 win over DC's Mark Veitengruber and Fabian Wilde in first doubles.  The hosts evened things up with an 8-5 win in second doubles by the pairing of David Gonzalez Villegas and Ricardo Ruiz Martinez.  But, Jacobo Rendon and Alexander Lyudinovskiy scored an 8-3 win in third doubles to put the Bobcats ahead heading into singles play.

The Bobcats would go on to sweep singles play to secure the dual-match victory.  Gonzalez Villegas fell in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 0-1) in the first  singles position to Lukas Laipold, marking the only matchup which went past two sets.  Veitengruber fell to returning All-MEC selection Ramon Rodriguez (7-5, 6-4) in a tight battle at fourth singles.

Daemen returns to action this Sunday, Feb. 5 when Mercyhurst University heads to Miller Tennis Center for a 10 a.m. dual-match.