LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The Lee University men's tennis team lost 7-0 Saturday afternoon at No. 16 West Alabama. The Flames dropped to 3-4 overall and are now 1-2 in Gulf South Conference play. UWA improved to 5-4 (1-2 GSC).

"We got a lesson in grit today," said Lee head coach Patric Hynes. "West Alabama is a solid team and they were definitely hungry for a good result. Jesus (Garcia) fought very hard like he always does, but they were just more determined than we were throughout the lineup."

Patricio Nieto and Ilia Dehodiuk beat Garcia and Cristian Pons 6-1 at No. 2 doubles. Christopher Bulus and Ilari Vesanen secured the doubles point for UWA with a 6-3 advantage over Bruno Medeiros and Antonio Pons. The No. 3 doubles match was left unfinished with UWA's Nuutti Jokinen and Noah Johansen leading Nico Ramirez and Drew Johnston 5-4.

Bulus opened the singles scoring with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Ramirez. Dehodiuk defeated Cristian Pons 6-3 and 6-4 to extend the UWA lead to 3-0.

Vesanen was forced into a third set by Garcia before clinching the team victory. Vesanen won the first and third sets by the same 6-3 score, while Garcia won the second set at 6-4.

Nieto and Medeiros traded 6-3 wins at No. 4 singles before Nieto posted the win with a 10-6 super set tiebreaker. Jokinen edged Antonio Pons 7-6, 7-5. Anton Lof completed the shutout with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Johnston.

"We will grab some rest the next couple of days, then start to prepare for our matches this week and spring break," added Hynes.

The Flames return to the DeVos Tennis Center Thursday, March 5, to face Young Harris College. The non-conference match is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.