Richard Gamble and teammate Vincent Audy put up a mighty struggle before falling in the No. 1 doubles 9-8 (7-5) and then the visiting Bethel University Wildcats took command and handed the Lee Flames an opening day 5-0 defeat on Friday at the DeVos Tennis Center.

The event was shortened to only five matches because Bethel scheduled another match at Tennessee Wesleyan later on Friday.

Gamble and Audy managed to win three games in their singles defeat and that closed out the victory for the visitors.

In doubles play, Daniel Hardesty and Patrick Kim dropped their match 8-2, while Fabio Medina and Kevin Tan fell in the No. 3 doubles 8-0. 

The Flames had their Saturday match with UT-Chattanooga postponed due to the weather but will face a probable tougher foe when they travel to Auburn-Montgomery on Feb. 19.

Lee 0, Bethel 5

Singles:

Peter Baca (B) def. Richard Gamble (L) 6-1, 6-2

Robin Demasse (B) def. Vincent Audy (L) 6-3, 6-0

Fabio Medina (L) vs Paolo Vecchi (B) DNF

Daniel Hardesty (L) vs Travis Hyman (B) DNF

Patrick Kim (L) vs Eduardo Espinar (B) DNF

Kevin Tan (L) vs Kristian Takac (B) DNF

Doubles:

Baca/Demasse (B) def. Gamble/Audy (L) 9-8 (7-5)

Vecchi/Takac (B) def. Hardesty/Kim (L) 8-2

Espinar/Hyman (B) def. Medina/Tan (L) 8-0