OWATONNA, Minn. – The Bethel University men's tennis team lost a hard fought match to St. Olaf College, 6-3, Saturday afternoon. The Royals lost two of three doubles matches with their losses coming by scores of 8-5 and 8-6 to get into an early hole they were unable to recover from.

"We had our chances today," said Royals coach Drew Fernelius. "The guys battled but we need to execute better in the clutch when it is tight. Hopefully this will motivate us to work even harder and get them next time."

The Royals doubles victory came at the No. 2 slot with freshman Matt Schull and Kolin Kiekhoefer coming out on top 8-6. In singles play two matches went into super tie-breakers with each team winning one. Steve Schull at No. 5 singles won for Bethel, 6-1, 4-6, (10-3) but Kiekhoefer fell at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 3-6, (8-10). Bethel's other victory came at No. 4 singles with Luke Palmquist winning 6-2, 6-4.

The Royals suffered their first defeat of the season and now stand 3-1 overall and 0-1 in MIAC play. Bethel now turns their attention to their next match with the University of St. Thomas next Saturday morning at the Baseline Tennis Center.